MasterChef SA's Sam out of season

Cape Town - Samantha Nolan put herself right back in the soup with bad seasoning.

The 41-year-old from Cape Town struggled to balance her flavours in the budget challenge and also failed to rescue a minestrone soup in the elimination challenge.

By adding pancetta to her soup and not removing it, Samantha sealed her fate as the latest cook to leave the MasterChef kitchen.

Chef Pete Goffe-Wood noted to guest judge, Taste magazine editor Abigail Donnelly, that Sam has struggled with seasoning in previous challenges.

In the Around the World challenge the judges noted that she severely over-seasoned her mince for her curry bunnies.

Budget challenge

The top ten contestants were tasked with creating a meal for four people for under R150.

Everything in the pantry was priced and contestants had limited time to make their choices.

Lungi was the only contestant to come in under budget while all the others had to return some items they had selected.

Manisha won the challenge with her family-style platter. Samantha landed in the bottom three due to grainy asparagus and over-roasted trout. Jade and Khaya joined Sam in the elimination challenge.

Murky minestrone

The elimination challenge called on the bottom three to rescue a drab-looking minestrone soup in six steps. Jade fared the best while Khaya earned herself the nickname "coriander girl" because she mistook the pungent herb for parsley.

However, it was Sam's late addition of the tomato paste and the inclusion of pancetta which sent her home. Chef Pete said she essentially turned the dish into pancetta soup.

MasterChef SA airs on M-Net and M-Net HD every Tuesday at 19:30.