Col’Cacchio is in the 7th year of its well-known Celebrity Chef Series – celeb chefs create their signature pizza, which is then featured on the menu for a month.

October’s chef is Jodi-Ann Pearton of The Food Design Agency with her offering – The Basil McBeefy. Having a long-standing love affair with beef ribs, I knew this would be a pizza I would love.

Jodi-Ann Pearton is a a Silwood Kitchen graduate, who has won the Sunday Times Chef of the Year multiple times and represented SA at various international chefs’ competitions. Her inspiration behind Basil McBeefy comes from fond memories of her father preparing slow-braised beef short ribs for the family on weekends, ‘the most amazing comfort food’ and the spark that ignited her passion for food.

The Basil McBeefy is a blonde pizza – so no tomato base, which makes a nice change, it is topped with Mozzarella, beef short rib slow cooked in red wine, chilli and crispy basil leaves. It’s really hard to go wrong with slow-braised beef short rib – it is succulent, flavoursome and feels so indulgent as a pizza topping. The pizza also has a hit of chilli and the flavour of basil from the deep fried leaves.

Since its inception the Celebrity Chef Series has raised over R1 million for worthy causes. This year will see funds raised going to The Children’s Hospital Trust’s special project – St. Josephs Paediatric Rehabilitation Centre for Chronically Ill Children. You can enjoy a delicious pizza, knowing that a contribution of that will be going to do help build this important facility.

You can only enjoy the Basil McBeefy until the end of October – so don’t miss it!

www.colcacchio.co.za

Words by Julie Velosa