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Bellini
Bellini: fragrant white peach purée topped with cold Prosecco, Venice's late-summer brunch drink
Venice invented the Bellini in the late 1940s, when a bar owner near San Marco mixed puréed white peaches with Prosecco and named the pale pink result after the Renaissance painter Giovanni Bellini. It is still a seasonal pleasure, best from July to September when white peaches are ripe and scented, and drunk late in the morning, at weddings or before lunch on the lagoon. This is a drink for adults only, though a gentle one. It should taste of fresh peach first, soft and perfumed, with the Prosecco adding light fizz and dryness, and the texture should be smooth and lightly velvety, never pulpy. The usual mistake is pouring the Prosecco fast onto the purée: it foams over and the peach stays sunk at the bottom. Tilt the glass, pour slowly in two goes and give a single gentle stir. It is ready when the drink is an even blush pink from top to bottom with a fine, slow bead. Enjoy it with food and drink responsibly. Out of season, use frozen white peach purée or ripe yellow peaches with a little more lemon. Chef's tip: a single raspberry blended into the purée gives the classic pink colour without changing the taste.
- Total time
- 12 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
For the Bellini
- 4 white peachesripe and fragrant, about 500 g
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 2 ½ cups Proseccovery cold; check the label for a vegan one if it matters: some wines are fined with egg or fish products
Optional
- 2 raspberry (optional)for colour
- 1 tsp white sugar (optional)only if the peaches are not very sweet
For the alcohol-free version
- 4 white peaches (optional)
- 1 tsp lemon juice (optional)
- 2 ½ cups sparkling white grape juice (optional)very cold; or sparkling water for a drier drink
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What you'll need
Fresh ingredients (1)
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Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Score a small cross in the base of each of 4 white peaches, lower them into a pan of boiling water for 30 seconds, then lift into iced water. Slip off the skins and cut the flesh from the stones.
3 minStep 2: Blend the peach flesh with 1 tsp lemon juice, 2 raspberry and 1 tsp white sugar until completely smooth, then press through a fine sieve. You should have about 300 ml of pale pink purée. Chill well.
4 minStep 3: Spoon 50 ml of purée into each chilled flute. Tilt the glass and slowly pour in half of each portion of 2 ½ cups Prosecco, wait for the foam to settle, then add the rest.
3 minStep 4: Give each glass one gentle stir from the bottom and serve straight away.
1 minStep 5: Alcohol-free version: peel and stone 4 white peaches the same way, blend with 1 tsp lemon juice and sieve.
6 minStep 6: Alcohol-free version: spoon the purée into flutes, top slowly with 2 ½ cups sparkling white grape juice in two pours and stir once.
2 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 110 kcal
- Protein
- 1 g
- Carbs
- 11 g
- Fat
- 0 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does bellini take?
- About 12 minutes in total: 10 minutes to prepare and 2 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 6 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of lemon juice?
- Lime juice, same amount.
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