Wine and Food Pairings : Prosecco & Antipasti Pizza #AD

I've not shared too many recipes on here recently, due to one thing or another, but I intend to rectify that now I've got a little more time on my hands, and the days are getting a little longer, making it easier to take photographs in the evening.

Anyone that knows me knows that I like to enjoy a drink from time to time. I don't drink often but when I go out with friends I do like to let my hair down a little, and sometimes have trouble finding my off switch [don't judge!] My drinks of choice are usually lager or Prosecco, and sometimes both, although I have been known to regret that decision.

Recently I got to choose myself a few different bottles of Prosecco from Millésima, along with some champagne, which is a bit of a luxury for me. If you're a big wine connoisseur then you're sure to be excited by Millésima's huge stock of more than 2.5 million bottles of fine wine that they age slowly in their cellars in Bordeaux, including 100-250 en-primeur wines. Now I don't claim to be a wine expert by any means so I did have to research what 'en-primeur' wines are, and discovered that it's a method of buying wines early, whilst still in the barrel; offering customers the chance to invest before it's bottled. There are many reasons for buying 'en-primeur' including investment and securing wines that may be limited in quantity, but mostly because customers want to obtain great wine at the best price.

I received a gift card to purchase my wines, which arrived beautifully packaged in a black ribbon tied presentation box, along with a very comprehensive catalogue of wines from many regions, including a handy guide showing whether particular vintages are 'to drink' or 'to age'. Putting together my own 'tasting case' of wines, from the large selection of single bottles, was simple, and the checkout was straightforward. My tasting case arrived in around 2.5 weeks, and I decided to pair one of the bottles of Prosecco with one of my favourite food pairings - pizza.

As Prosecco is often the drink of choice at parties and celebrations, and pizza makes a great party food, then it's a no brainer that they would be paired together. The ideal Prosecco to pair with savoury foods such as pizza and antipasti is the 'Brut' style, as confusingly 'extra dry' and 'dry' are sweeter in taste, and may better suited served with cake and desserts, at an afternoon tea, for example. For this particular food pairing I selected a bottle of Treviso Brut Prosecco from Mionetto to pair with my Antipasti Pizza topped with salty cured ham and creamy Italian cheese.

Home made pizza is really easy to make, and best of all, you can top it with all of your favourite ingredients. For this one I chose to top the pizza dough with fig jam instead of a tomato sauce as the sweetness of figs goes really well with Italian cheese & Prosciutto. Topped off with a scattering of thyme leaves and rocket (Arugula) and a drizzle of lemon extra virgin olive oil finishes off this sweet, salty & creamy pizza with a touch of pepperiness.

I find a pizza stone to be the best way of cooking home made pizzas to make sure that the base is cooked evenly. You need to preheat the stone in the oven, and by doing this the pizzas only take around 10 minutes to cook, so whilst one is cooking you can prepare the next. I've recently bought some wooden pizza paddles which makes transferring the pizza on & off the pizza stone easier

Antipasti Pizza - makes 4 small pizzas 

400g pizza dough - I have a recipe here
flour and/or semolina for rolling
4 tbsp fig jam
200g mozzarella, sliced
100g ricotta
150g garlic marinated artichoke hearts, sliced
1 burrata cheese
85g prosciutto
a few sprigs of thyme
handful of rocket
drizzle of lemon extra virgin olive oil

• Preheat the oven to 225 C and if you're using a pizza stone place it in the oven
• Divide the pizza dough into 4 pieces and roll out on a floured work surface to about 3cm thick
• Top the dough with 1 tbsp fig jam & spread evenly
• Add slices of mozzarella and artichoke and spoon small amounts of ricotta on
• Bake on the hot pizza stone for approx 10 minutes, until the cheese has melted and the pizza crust has browned
• Serve with small amounts of burrata dotted on top, prosciutto, some thyme & rocket leaves and a drizzle of olive oil

 

This is an ad for Millesima

Lemon, Prosecco & Raspberry Shot Glass Trifle

Over the Christmas period I have a couple of favourite tipples, one of which is Prosecco. On Christmas morning it's traditional for us to start off with a Bucks Fizz breakfast, which we make with fresh orange juice and either Cava, Prosecco or Champagne. Later in the day I switch the orange juice for a dash of Chambord raspberry liquor, or my homemade Cherry Vodka. I've stocked up my wine rack in preparation (especially as my Mum will be joining us, as she likes her Prosecco), and after trying the Prosecco from Premier Estates Wine I liked it so much that I bought a few more!

Raspberries go really well with Prosecco and I always keep a box of frozen raspberries in the freezer ready to add to a glass of fizz to add a little flavour, or help chill the Prosecco down if I've forgotten to pop one in the fridge in advance.

These individual shot glass trifles combine both raspberries and Prosecco, along with a touch of zing from lemon curd, and they would make great Christmas Day desserts when you fancy something sweet but are too full for Christmas pud. They can be made in advance or whipped up to order in just a few minutes.

Lemon, Prosecco & Raspberry Shot Glass Trifle - makes 6

base of trifle

2 1/2cm slices of Madeira cake

lemon curd

Prosecco

trifle topping

100g cream cheese
30g lemon curd
2 tbsp double cream
2 tbsp Prosecco
18 fresh or frozen (thawed) raspberries

• spread one slice of cake with lemon curd and sandwich the 2 slices together
• cut 6 discs out of the cake a similar diameter to the glass
• place a disc of cake into the bottom of each glass
• drizzle approx 1/2tsp of Prosecco onto the cake & set aside
• whisk the cream cheese, lemon curd, double cream & prosecco together until smooth and forming soft peaks
• place 2 raspberries into each shot glass & press down lightly
• spoon the creamy mixture into the shot glasses, or pipe in with an icing bag
• top with a raspberry and refrigerate for a minimum of 15 minutes before serving

I was provided with a case of Prosecco from Premier Estates Wine to use in my recipe, and over the festive period. This post contains a referral link.

Rhubarb and Prosecco Fizz

There's talk of a Prosecco shortage this summer, but so far I haven't seen any evidence of it. Maybe it will happen when summer does eventually arrive, but hopefully not, as I quite like my weekend tipple.

There are so many ways to drink Prosecco; as it comes, with a drizzle of Chambord raspberry liquor or Creme de Cassis blackcurrant liquor, or even in a sparkling white sangria, which we enjoyed on a recent holiday in Majorca last month.

Last week I had a few sticks of rhubarb, and rather than making my usual pie or crumble I decided to make a rhubarb vodka syrup to use in a cocktail.

Rhubarb Vodka Syrup - makes approx 300ml

3-4 sticks of rhubarb

cold water

200g caster sugar

100ml vodka

• cut the rhubarb into 1" pieces & add to a large saucepan and cover with cold water
• bring to the boil, turn down the heat and simmer gently (with the lid on) until the rhubarb is completely soft
• leave to cool in the pan
• strain the juices through a jam bag or piece of muslin
• this gave me 600ml of juice, to which I added 200g of sugar (adjust accordingly)
• pour into a saucepan and bring to the boil, and simmer until the juice has been reduced to around 200ml
• stir in 100ml vodka and pour into a sterilised bottle

Rhubarb and Prosecco Fizz

rhubarb vodka syrup

ginger ale

Prosecco

mint leaves

• add approx 10ml of syrup to a champagne flute
• fill to just under halfway with ginger ale
• top up with Prosecco, and add some mint leaves

Ensure that your ingredients are ice cold, and add a small stick of rhubarb as a stirrer