The pantry had been converted into a mini supermarket. The contestants had $10.00 each to buy ingredients for a dish of their choice which they had 30 minutes to make. They chose their ingredients, using a scanner to make sure they stayed within their budget.

Julie and Lucas were both making leek and potato soup. Julie tasted her soup and realised it was too salty but wasn't able to fix it by adding cream.

Justine had made an omelette with feta and roasted capsicum. Gary said it wasn’t really a dish for the finals week of MasterChef and Matt told her it was pedestrian.

Chris served French onion soup with cheesy croutons. Matt said it was a good dish but there wasn’t $10.00 worth of value on the plate. Gary liked the filling of Poh’s Malaysian roti with caramelised leeks and thought the pastry was nice and crisp.

Matt said Julie’s potato and leek soup with cheesy croutons looked like it was from a restaurant but tasted as though it was from the salt mines of Siberia. Matt thought Lucas’ potato and leek soup was far superior to Julie’s but thought he should have done more with $10.00.

Julia had made crispy skin salmon on cannellini bean puree with zucchini. The judges loved her dish and she won the challenge.

Julia had to pick the core ingredient for the Greek-themed invention test. She chose goat over eggplants or sardines, and was given first pick of the cuts of meat.

The contestants were able to choose 15 additional ingredients from the pantry and had 90 minutes to prepare one dish. During the challenge, Poh realised she should have cooked her goat stew another way, while Julie’s pies collapsed when she took them out of the oven. Julia burnt the top of her pies.

Gary thought Julie’s goat pie could have looked better but George said her tomato and mint salad was gorgeous. Lucas presented goat cigars with walnut and yoghurt salad. Matt loved the idea but questioned the execution, telling Lucas his dish was “close but no cigar.”

Chris had to carve his stuffed goat leg with potatoes for the judges. Gary said the seam of stuffing looked very attractive, while George thought the flavours of fig and mastic were brilliant.

Gary told Poh her goat stew wasn’t braised but Matt said her feta baked with oregano was delicious. George said it was a shame the meat was overcooked in Justine’s goat wrapped in vine leaves because it was a “cracking dish” with delicious flavours.

Gary noted the burnt filo on top of Julia’s goat, spinach and feta pie. Both Gary and George loved her beetroot puree.

The judges told Julia and Justine they had made the best two dishes of the day but because Julia’s pie was burnt on top and Justine had overcooked her meat, Chris was the winner of the challenge.

Chris remained in the kitchen when the other contestants left. The judges told him he was going to have the advantage of knowing what was in the next day’s mystery box challenge but had to keep it a secret from the others.

Stay tuned for the first elimination round of the week.