From Garden to Table: Autumn Flavours at Walter Peak - Two Raw Sisters Recipe

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Walter Peak: A True Garden-to-Table Experience

Nestled across Lake Whakatipu, Walter Peak High Country Farm is a truly unique Queenstown dining destination, where the garden sits just metres away from the kitchen and seasonal produce from is transformed into fresh, flavourful dishes served daily.

When you book onto the Walter Peak Gourmet Buffet, you get to help yourself to a colourful selection of garden-fresh salads, vegetables, and flavour-packed recipes, all carefully prepared to showcase what’s in season. This is food grown with care and served with heart. The secret lies in the Walter Peak kitchen garden. Growing seasonal vegetables, herbs, and edible flowers, it’s lovingly tended to by the Walter Peak team. In autumn, the garden shifts with the season - golden pumpkins, crisp courgettes, and vibrant cherry tomatoes ripen under the last warm rays, some sheltered in the greenhouses. It’s this harvest that inspires the buffet menu, bringing a taste of the land straight to your table.

Queenstown's Only Cruise, Dinner and a Show 

There’s no other Queenstown dining destination quite like this. At Walter Peak, your evening begins with a scenic cruise across Lake Whakatipu. Once you arrive, you’ll sit down to your seasonal feast, followed by an entertaining glimpse into New Zealand’s high country farming heritage. 

This is more than just dinner. This unique "cruise, dining and show" experience connects visitors to the lake, the land, and New Zealand traditions that make this region special.

Behind the Recipe: Two Raw Sisters

Margo Flanagan of Two Raw Sisters is renowned across New Zealand for transforming seasonal vegetables into vibrant, flavourful dishes that appeal to everyone. Their approach to food - emphasising sustainability, seasonality, and minimal waste - aligns perfectly with Walter Peak's garden-to-table philosophy.

For this special collaboration, Margo rolled up her sleeves and joined Walter Peak Executive Chef Will in the kitchen garden. Together, they harvested ingredients  to create a signature autumn dish that brings the garden-to-table concept to life. The resulting recipe – an Autumn Vegetable Traybake with Garlic Olive Salsa – showcases how simple, fresh ingredients can create an extraordinary dining experience. 

Autumn Vegetable Traybake with Garlic Olive Salsa

Serves: 4

Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients

• 1/4 pumpkin, cut into bite-sized chunks
• 2 zucchinis, sliced on the diagonal
• 1 red onion, cut into thin wedges
• 2 tbsp cooking oil
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 200g cherry tomatoes
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp sea salt

Olive Herb Salsa  

• 1/2 cup olives, pitted and sliced  
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil  
• 1 tsp dijon mustard  
• 1/2 cup herbs, chopped  
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped  
• Juice of 1/2 lemon  
• 1/4 chilli, finely diced  
• 1/2 tsp sea salt 
• 1/2 cup walnuts, roasted and chopped 

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 210°C.
2. Add all of the vegetables onto a baking tray and place in the oven to cook for 40 minutes.
3. Heat a cast-iron pan over high heat. Once hot, quickly fry off the cherry tomatoes until the skin starts to crack. This only takes a couple of minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and immediately toss through the olive oil and sea salt. Set aside.
4. While the vegetables are roasting, make the garlic herb salsa. Add all of the ingredients into a small bowl and mix to combine.
5. Once the vegetables are finished, remove them from the oven and allow them to cool slightly before spooning over the cherry tomatoes and any of the juices, followed by the garlic herb salsa and walnuts. Give everything a gentle toss together.  

Any leftovers will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days.

A Seasonal Celebration of Local Flavour and Connection

Try this recipe at home, or enjoy it made fresh in the Walter Peak kitchens, and celebrate autumn’s seasonal produce at a uniquely New Zealand experience. Please note that ingredients may vary depending on garden availability and seasonal harvests.

This recipe was created in collaboration with Margo Flanagan of Two Raw Sisters and RealNZ.