Babulicious, Jennifer and Demi Babu, made Linguine Carbonara for their first challenge, which #CloverLBCO Chef judge Coco Reinarhz commented, “It was everything I expected from a Carbonara”. Linguine pasta is quite similar to spaghetti pasta only it is much wider and flatter which complements creamy sauces. Carbonara, a creamy pasta sauce with eggs, Clover’s range of cheeses and macon, is often described as a bold flavour and is made with whisked eggs to create the creamy texture. Linguine Carbonara can also be made with bacon or pancetta to give it different tastes.

“It’s very exciting to have made it to the second round,” said Big Cook Jennifer before starting their dish, “but we know that the challenges are going to be more difficult, and we’ll need to give it our best.”

Because time was limited, The Tasty Townsends (Dale and Romaine Townsend) had to make a deconstructed Lasagne. A deconstructed Lasagne is simply a traditional Lasagne recipe, but each component is cooked separately and built upon final presentation. It is a great go-to recipe if there is not enough time to bake a classic Lasagne. To add their own twist to their recipe, Big Cook Dale decided to make round Lasagne sheets instead of the traditional square or rectangular shapes, and Martin commented that Romaine’s very own béchamel sauce (or white sauce, made by gently combining flour with Clover’s Mooi River butter and Fresh Milk) was fantastic.

Fagottini pasta was on the menu for Ameera and Zahkira of Totally Spiced. Fagottini, meaning “little bundles” or “little purses” in Italian, is a delicately-made pasta folded into pyramid or purse shapes which can be filled with a variety of fillings, including vegetables, meats or cheeses. Totally Spiced made their Fagottini with a wild mushroom filling and Chef Coco thought their dish was fit for a 5-star restaurant which spurred an emotional response from Ameera who said “It’s huge for such a successful chef to say that about my dish!” Chef Martin concurred and remarked that their dish was something that a pro chef would make.

For the show’s second challenge, each team got creative with their Treatzza’s. Treatzza’s, or dessert pizzas, introduce a tasty, sweet twist to the traditional savoury pizzas and can be enjoyed for dessert, or even a snack during the day. The combination of flavours are endless for Treatzza’s with both fruits and sweets welcomed onto the classic pizza dough – the trick is to play around with different tastes to see what does and doesn’t work.

Babulicious added mebos (a dried apricot pulp flavoured with salt and sugar) to their dessert pizza to balance out the sweetness of their apple and cinnamon topping.

The Tasty Townsends treated the judges to chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate in their dessert pizza. The creative father-and-daughter duo created a berry and kiwi base and added hints of mint to balance the rich chocolate flavours.

Dale, Big Cook for the Tasty Townsends commented: “We’ve become much closer not only as teammates, but as father and daughter, too.”

Totally Spiced made a Chocolate Treatzza with banana and coconut with a poached pear on the side. Although their Treatzza was missing the crispiness of a pizza, Chef Coco commended the team for thinking things through carefully – they incorporated toppings that would go well with chocolate.

Since there is no Wild Card episode in round two, the competition was tight with the teams scrambling to achieve top marks. Finally, Babulicious and the Tasty Townsends were announced to proceed to the next round, while, sadly, team Totally Spiced had to say goodbye.

“It has been such a blessing to have shared these moments with my daughter,” Ameera commented. “I’m proud of Zahkira; she’s really turning out to be a precious little lady. We’re sad to leave, but we’re very happy to have been a part of the show.”

Clover’s Little Big Cook Off will be taking a two-week break to enjoy the Cricket on 16 August and 23 August. This means that after episode 7 (9 August 2015), #CloverLBCO episode 8 will air on 30 August 2015, episode 9 will air on 6 September 2015 and so on.