Strawberry Bellini
Looking for the perfect way to continue celebrating into 2011? This is the a great ‘morning-after’ cocktail for January 1st. Simple and elegant, this bellini is both a crowd-pleaser for a large party or a romantic surprise for your significant other (I served it with Christmas breakfast for my husband and myself). I’m not a huge fan of strong alcoholic drinks, so my bellini had a lot of strawberry blend in it. My husband however is not a huge fan of overly-sweet drinks, so I only used one tablespoon of the blended strawberries in his and added more champagne to his.
Whether you’re counting down 3-2-1 watching the ball drop on New Years Eve or waking up on January 1st, 2011, this is a delicious celebratory drink. Happy New Year!
Strawberry Bellini
Ingredients
10 oz frozen strawberries
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
Bottle of champagne
Directions
Stir the sugar and water in a saucepan over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved (approximately 5 minutes). Cool completely.
In a blender puree the strawberries with 1/3 cup of the sugar syrup until smooth.Strain through a clean fine-meshed strainer and into a bowl. Discard the seeds.
For each serving, pour 2 to 4 tablespoons of the fruit puree into a champagne flute.
Slowly pour enough champagne into the flute to fill.
Gently stir to blend. Garnish with the whole berries, as desired, and serve.
Source: Giada De Laurentiis
Innochka's Kitchen 