Bellini Cocktails

The Bellini is an Italian cocktail that was made famous by Harry's Bar in Venice, Italy.  The bar opened in 1931 and celebs like Ernest Hemmingway, Charlie Chaplan and Truman Capote, just to name a few, often made this a regular hangout. The traditional recipe was made with 1/3 peach nectar, made from white peaches, which are abundant from June through September in Italy, and 2/3 chilled Prosecco, which is an Italian sparkling wine, similar to Champagne.

Bellinis make an excellent brunch cocktail when you want something a little different from Mimosas. So, since we were having a nice breakfast on Sunday....we decided to have Bellinis as well.

It just so happened that Tyler Florence was making his own version on his show Saturday, so we concocted one based on the original, Tyler's version...and a few little tricks of our own.  The traditional method calls for peach nectar, but being that it is summertime, and very HOT here, we decided to use frozen peaches.  And since I feel that orange and peach are such good compliments to each other...we threw in a little orange too!  And we were not sorry!

You will need:

12 oz frozen peaches, thawed a bit
1 bottle Prosecco, chilled (don't buy the most expensive here...you are mixing it)
1/2 cup simple syrup, chilled
splash of Grand Marnier
juice of 1/2 orange

Put semi-frozen peaches, simple syrup, orange juice and splash of Grand Marnier in the blender.  Pulse and blend until it forms a slushy puree.  Place in the fridge to chill.  When ready to make drinks, put several ice cubes in a cocktail shaker (we keep ours in the freezer, so that it is always cold), fill half way with the peach puree, and fill the rest of the way with chilled Prosecco.  Shake, very, very well.  Pour into champagne flutes and enjoy!

And if you feel the need to be part of the in crowd, if you happen to be in Venice, stop by the original Harry's Bar and try a Bellini for yourself.

Harry's Bar
Calle Vallaresso
San Marco 1323
Venezia, Italy
041 5285777

   

Comments

[KC]

I've never tried one of these, and before reading your post, I didn't even know how they were made. Now I realize I'm been missing out- I love peaches and Grand Marnier.
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KC...

You have to run right out and try one...lemme know what you think!

Robin