Crespelle with wild asparagus and fonduta and extra dry prosecco

I’ve spent the last 3 days in the Veneto at a prosecco festival called Vino in Villa (yup, alright for some, but if it’s any consolation the weather hasn’t been as good as it has in the UK)

Anyway it’s given me the chance to run the better quality proseccos of the Conegliano Valdobbiadene region (try saying that if you’ve had a few) through their paces with different foods - mainly the sort of buffet style canapés you would have at parties.

There was one hot dish though that went particularly well - a ‘moneybag’ style stuffed pancake with wild asparagus and sciopet (some kind of wild greens, a little like spinach, for which I’ve not been able to find the exact translation) and a rich fonduta cheese sauce.

You might think that would be too powerful for a light prosecco but the extra dry style which can contain up to 17g of sugar and is generally sweeter than brut coped really well. It’s a style that’s more popular in Italy than it is in the UK but I reckon a good quality brut prosecco would match well too.

More on prosecco pairings to come.

* I attended Vino in Villa as a guest of the Consorzio Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore.

Seville orange soufflé and Primo Franco prosecco

You may be used to drinking prosecco as an aperitif, maybe even with a nibble of parma ham or some other cichetti but last week was the first time I’ve been to a dinner where prosecco featured right throughout the meal.

It wasn’t just any old prosecco, mind you, but the top notch Nino Franco range which includes a range of styles that are designed to be drunk with food. I still have doubts about this sort of exercise of which the Champenois are also excessively fond but it threw up some particularly interesting pairings with chef Freddy Bird’s robustly flavoured food (at Lido, Bristol)

The first was that a splodge of harissa on some deep fried oysters (delicious!) didn’t phase the introductory Nino Franco Rustico at all - in fact given that prosecco is sweeter than champagne it’s probably an ideal way to serve them.

The Riva di San Floriano (probably my favourite wine of the tasting) also sailed through the starters, especially the fritti (fried baby squid) and croquetas. (Fried things are always good with bubbles, though)

The biggest surprise was that a rosé sparkling wine*, the Faive 2012, (a blend of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc) went so well with a slow roast leg of lamb, providing a lovely fresh counterpoint to the rich meat though I suspect it’s a case of ‘don’t try this at home’. Most of your guests will still fancy a red.

But I’m giving the match of the week award to the last pairing: a spectacular Seville orange soufflé that was matched with the rich Primo Franco 2013, a wine that is often paired with desserts. (though the current vintage on sale is 2012 ). Although with the caveat that while the match with the soufflé was sublime, the accompanying dark chocolate sorbet and to a lesser extent the seville orange sauce killed the wine so serve it on its own or simply with cream.

* which can't be called prosecco as prosecco is only made from white grapes

I attended the dinner as a guest of Nino Franco Spumanti.

Prosecco and jelly

Is there a good match for jelly and ice-cream? A dessert wine can seem too heavy - and ice cream can strip out its sweetness - but prosecco is perfect, as I discovered at the weekend.

The jelly in question - a blood orange and Campari jelly at the Seahorse restaurant in Dartmouth - admittedly had a touch of bitterness which helped. And the prosecco, Nino Franco Rustico, like most sparkling wines, had an added ‘dosage’ or sugar solution that prevented it tasting too tart. The slightly sweeter Cartizze might have been even better but what made it work so well was the combination of textures - the frothy bubbles and the gently quivering jelly.

Coincidentally we had been at a friend’s the previous night who had made a rhubarb jelly with prosecco which was equally good - and very pretty. Jelly and prosecco is the way to go for spring and summer entertaining, I reckon. You heard it here first ;-)

Dim sum and Champagne

A very Western approach to Chinese food, admittedly, but if you're celebrating Chinese New Year today with a dim sum lunch you'll find that Champagne - or other sparkling wine - makes a perfect pairing.

For those of you who haven't come across dim sum before they're bite-sized snacks that are traditionally served during the day in tea houses (tea, obviously being the more usual accompaniment). They're a mixture of flavours and textures - some delicate and steamed (usually seafood), some more robust or fried (like pork buns).

Champagne is always at home with delicate seafood dishes and with crisp, deep-fried foods and its slight sweetness keys in perfectly with with the subtle spicing. A good prosecco would also work well. You might possibly want to move on to a red with the meatier dim sum if you're having a long lunch or if you move on to duck, say, but if you're keeping it simple a glass of fizz is just fine.

See Square Meal for a list of London's best dim sum restaurants.