New ‘Celebrity Chef’ pizza at Col’Cacchio

On Tuesday evening we were fortunate enough to attend the launch of the latest Celebrity Chef offering at Col’Cacchio. Not only did Chris Erasmus (Head Chef of Pierneef à la Motte Restaurant in Franschhoek) showcase his own creation, the winner of the covted Pizza Challenge was revealed – and sampled – much to the delight of all in attendance.

Guests at the Col’Cacchio pizzeria Foreshore enjoyed sampling the July Celebrity Chef Pizza from Chris Erasmus.  His ‘Liplekker Ribbetjie’ is a bechamel base infused with roasted garlic and rosemary, topped with mozzarella, smoked and braised lamb soutribbetjie, caramelised onion, pears poached in port, fresh rocket and a sprinkling of rosemary salt. And yes, it tastes as good as it sounds.

The surprise guest was MasterChef’s Benny Masekwameng, who applied his renowned judging skills to help select the winner of the Pizza Challenge.  The votes from Benny and all three 2012 Col’Cacchio pizzeria Celebrity Chefs – Jackie Cameron, Coco Reinarhz and Chris Erasmus – were unanimous.  Jessica Comninos is the Celebrity Chef for August.  Her Liu Loren Pizza combines a tomato base, mozzarella, Asian-marinated chicken, oven caramelised apricots and fresh thyme, with a topping of spring onion, fresh coriander and a drizzle of honey soy and orange reduction. 

Commenting on her inspiration for the Liu Loren, Jessica said: “I grew up under the culinary expertise of my dad, who loves to experiment with different Thai flavours. His signature dish is a Thai-inspired Peking duck 5 course meal which includes the fragrant flavours of garlic, ginger, chilli, lemongrass and coriander. These Thai staples made every meal my favourite and I couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate my favourite flavours than on a pizza!”

Col’Cacchio pizzeria encourages diners to enjoy sampling the culinary creations from Chris Erasmus and Jessica Comninos over July and August.  With the donation of R5 per Celebrity Chef Pizza sold, Col’Cacchio pizzeria is hoping to add a notable amount to the R85 910 already raised for the Children’s Hospital Trust, fundraiser for the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital and Paediatric Healthcare in the Western Cape.