How to make a Bellini cocktail

Let’s show you how to make a Bellini cocktail.

During late August and early September, fresh peaches are available all over the little island of Ponza, Italy. Boxes of them are shipped in from the mainland and everyone is eager to get their hands on them. What better way can there be to serve the first peach harvest than as a Bellini cocktail.

Ideally, your Bellini cocktail should be made using white peaches, but we won’t tell if you don’t. Serve your fresh Bellini as an aperitif and if you choose to serve it at any time of the day or night, we will keep that to ourselves too.

Ingredients

• Ripe white peaches (never yellow)
• Prosecco

Preparation

1. Peel the peaches and remove the stones.
2. Create a purée from the peaches by grating the peaches and press through a fine sieve or using a vegetable hand mill called a mouli. Using a food processor will add too much air.
3. Put the purée in the freezer until it is almost frozen, but still soft.
4. Put a few spoons of purée into a tall iced Champagne glass.
5. Top up with chilled Prosecco and gently stir to mix the two ingredients.
6. The proportions should be one part peach to three parts Prosecco.
7. Finish with a few slices of fresh peach and serve immediately.