Hope for the best, plan for the worst.

South African’s are a mercurial bunch. We are so different, so diverse, so proud. Is it  a good Seven Colour plate with chicken and beetroot, or a braai with plain whitebread braaibroodjies. Do you choose Samp and beef potjie, or Runners and unsalted pap?

There is only one thing that unites us all. 

Once, every four years, we all stand together, dust off our best anthem singing voices, wear or rugby Jerseys and unite behind our boys in green and gold. Few things give us as a country such universal joy as Beating the Brits or Whacking the Wallabies or Annihilating the All Blacks.

We like winning, we are proud of our boys and luckily for us, the end up top of the world year after year.

So, we don’t want to jinx them…but let’s be prepared?

I am by no means a rugby fanatic, or even knowledgeable enough to yell coherent advice at the TV. But I know that upsets happen even to the most prepared team, and I want to be ready for this.

That is why we have come up with two easy, comforting, and hearty meal options for the upcoming Rugby World Cup final.

Yes: We are assuming a couple of things here…

1) The Springboks will make it to the final,

2) You will be having some kind of social get together to watch (and hopefully) celebrate their victory.

First up, in case of victory: Better-than-a-broodjie Braai Pizza.

As great as a braaibroodjie is, they are fidgety and take up a lot of game time to make. Get out of the kitchen quicker and don’t waste your time buttering individual slices of bread or risk dropping them in the coals when they inevitably escape form the “rooster”…

We suggest a braai pizza. Its as simple as it sounds.

Take two frozen or readymade pizzas of your choice, flip one onto the other one, toppings facing each other, and voila – a giant circular pizza style braaibroodjie. No buttering, no cheese slicing, no fuss.

You can Zhoosh it up with extra toppings like grated cheese, crumbled feta, sliced or caramelized onions, even fresh tomato and pesto or chutney…You can be as “extra” as you want and your guests will think you are brilliant for creating a side dish in an instant.

Now for the morning after the night before…

Let’s say the unthinkable happens and we do not reign victorious (let’s blame the referee).

You wake, still disappointed. You walk through the deserted house. It is a battlefield of unfinished drinks, discarded Springbok memorabilia, and leftovers. Everybody lost their appetite when the final whistle blew and now you have piles of cold braaivleis to deal with…

Add to that the pounding headache from all the crying you did last night, and you definitely deserve a bit of comfort food.

We suggest you whip up a “Stop-Sulking Frittata”.

(A frittata is an egg based Italian dish, much like an omelette, but easier to make. It can be equated to a quiche, but without the hassle of making a crust…)

This is what you do:

(Depending on how hungry you are, and how much leftovers you add in, this recipe will feed 2 adults.)

• Take all the leftover vegetables, cut into cubes.
• Do the same with any leftover braaivleis. (Rounds of cold Boerewors, strips of steak, slices of chop and pork rasher…everything can work in a frittata)
• Chuck it all into a large thick bottomed pan with a bit of olive oil.

While that is heating up gently, whisk together about 4 eggs, add a dash of milk or cream, and once the meat and vegetables are nice and hot, pour the egg mixture into the pan and swirl it around to cover the bottom of the pan but don’t stir too much.

The next steps will depend on how large your pan is and how you eat your eggs.

This is an open and flexible recipe that requires some common sense on your part. If you think your eggs aren’t cooking quickly enough, turn up the heat a bit, just don’t burn the bottom of your meat and veg mixture. If you want to add grated cheese on top, do that now

Adding a lid to your pan will allow the eggs to “steam” a bit and cook faster…its all about how you like it. After all, this is supposed to be your comfort food!

Drizzle with Sriracha or balsamic glaze, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and serve immediately.

This frittata is a fantastic recipe to have in your back pocket as it can be made with whatever you have on hand, and you can easily double or halve the amounts depending on how many people you need to feed.