I've named this beautiful cocktail after Leo Caplan's wife, Janine (or 'Nini' as she's known by her nearest and dearest). Leo made a really generous donation to a charity called Help a London Child, and in return I said I'd name a recipe in this book after his lovely wife!
A peach Bellini is the classic Venetian cocktail, and my mate Arrigo serves loads of them in his world-famous establishment, Harry's Bar. Arrigo's grandad, Giuseppe Cipriani, opened Harry's in 1931, and because he was a bit of a genius he ended up inventing not only this beautiful cocktail but also another thing I absolutely love - carpaccio. The story goes that when Giuseppe first made this cocktail the sun was setting and the colours in the drink were the same as the colours in his favourite Bellini painting...you can work out the rest! You can also get nice results using tinned (canned) peaches if you can't find beautifully ripe flat peaches.
I think this is best made just before serving, in front of your friends. Halve your peaches, remove their stones, then pop them into a liquidizer and blitz until smooth. Add a splash of water if needed and put the puree into a jug. If you don't have a liquidizer just use your hands to squeeze, mash and really push the peaches through a sieve so you get as much as possible of their wonderful flavour and the colour from their skins into the puree. You can get the puree as fine as you like, but I don't mind the thickness...it's quite rustic. Discard (or eat!) whatever is left behind in the sieve, then pour the Prosecco into the jug and gently mix together. Divide among six glasses right away, and top up with a little more Prosecco, if need be, and enjoy!
Tools You May Need
Tools You May Need
Price and stock may change after publish date, and we may make money off
these links.
By entering your email address, you agree to our Terms of Use
and acknowledge the Privacy Policy.
Food Network and
its affiliates
may use your email address to provide updates, ads, and offers.
To withdraw your consent or learn more about your rights, see the
Privacy Policy.