MasterChef’s Matt Preston reveals his favourite meal of all time – as gut health doctor rates his pizza ‘five out of ten’

Food critic Matt Preston has spilled his favourite meal of all time – and offered a rare look at what he eats in a typical day.

The former MasterChef Australia judge spoke to Melbourne gastroenterologist Dr Paul Froomes about his five go-to dishes.

His top pick is a classic pizza with rocket, prosciutto, cheese and tomato.

‘I’ll give you a favourite dish… Great pizza, some rocket on there, a little bit of prosciutto, not too much cheese and tomato,’ Preston said. 

‘So not overloaded, not a mass commercial one, but a kind of an artisan Neapolitan style. That’s (my) number one.’ 

The popular TV personality, who’s known for criticising and rating dishes, saw the tables turned as the gut health doctor gave his favourite meal a five out of 10 for its impact on the gut microbiome. 

For lunch, Preston said he usually makes a wrap filled with lentils, ground oats and chia seeds, topped with a hard-boiled egg or a ‘great combination’ of cottage cheese, fennel and smoked salmon. 

‘I’ve been making wraps with red lentils, with three parts oats and one part chia seed. Just in a pan, I make a whole batch of them, put them in the freezer, and I’ll take them out one by one and warm them in the toaster,’ he explained. 

‘I top them with either hard-boiled eggs, like an egg salad, with olive oil and mayonnaise made with mainly hard-boiled eggs and not oil to try and redress them.

‘And the other one, of course… the ultimate online combination of cottage cheese, fennel, smoked salmon.’

Dr Froomes gave Preston’s lunch a stellar near-perfect nine out of 10.  

For leftovers, he often throws together last night’s pasta with fresh leeks and sugar snap peas.

‘The sauce is made with cottage cheese blended with frozen peas because I love green peas and I think they’re really good,’ Preston said. 

‘There might be an egg in there just to smash in a little bit more protein.’

Impressed with the dish, Dr Froomes gave it a perfect 10 out of 10.  

‘That’s got all your prebiotics covered, plus the protein, plus some really healthy fats,’ he explained.

For a healthy twist on pizzas, Preston said he usually cooks a sweet potato in the microwave before flattening it out and combining it with nutritional yeast and parmesan cheese.

Using the sweet potato mash as a base, he tops it with cooked chicken breast, jalapenos and spring onion. He then bakes it in the oven until the crust is crispy.

‘I’ve then baked it so it’s got a lovely cheesy crust on it,’ he said. 

Dr Froomes rated the dish a stellar nine out of 10. 

‘Because that has got resistant starch, it’s got sulfoquinovose from the spices you’ve got on it, and you’ve got a nice lean source of protein,’ he explained. 

Finally for dessert, Preston said his go-to is frozen Greek yoghurt, mixed with protein powder, raspberries, strawberries and blackberries. 

‘I’m obsessed with making homemade ice cream,’ he said. 

‘I’m gonna take two scoops of protein powder. I’m gonna take about a cup of Greek yogurt and I’m going to mix that up and I’m gonna blend that with berries.’

Dr Froomes gave the dish an eight out of 10, saying that it’s a ‘pretty good’ dessert because there’s no added sugar, it’s a probiotic yoghurt and there’s protein powder.

‘So that’s not what you call a traditional ice cream, that’s kind of a healthy treat.’