Illustration: a terrace table above the sea under a striped awning, set with lemon risotto, pink penne and veal scaloppine, as a hand tips a flute of Prosecco into the risotto pan.

Cooking with ProseccoA glass for the pan.
The rest for the table.

An open bottle is tomorrow’s dinner. Each of these Italian dishes takes one glass of Bella Principessa, last night’s is fine, and the rest goes round the table. She’s Brut, so the sauces stay bright and never turn sticky.

From the kitchen
“Whenever there’s Prosecco open, I cook with it. Bella Principessa, ti amo! We love cooking with Prosecco.”
Bucci, our friend at Frantoio, 397 King’s Road, Chelsea. He cooks with it at Frantoio when a dish calls for it, and at home when he’s cooking for himself.
Book a table at Frantoio →

Which Prosecco for cooking?

A Brut, always. Gold for lemon and butter, Pink for tomato and cream.

By Michael Goldstein · 4 min read

Illustration: a copper pan of lemon risotto on an old stove, steam rising, beside Parmigiano, a grater, a halved lemon and a flute of pale gold Prosecco.01

Primo · 40 min · serves 4

Risotto al Prosecco

Lemon, Parmigiano and a cold splash

  • ¾ cup Bella Principessa Gold
  • 1½ cups Carnaroli or Arborio rice
  • 5 cups hot light stock
  • 1 shallot

A glass in with the rice, and a cold splash at the end to bring the fruit back.

Full recipe →
Illustration: a bowl of penne in pink tomato cream sauce with basil on a checked cloth by a window of geraniums, with a flute of blush-pink Prosecco.02Best with the Pink

Primo · 35 min · serves 4

Penne al Prosecco

The vodka pasta, made with Prosecco

  • ⅔ cup Bella Principessa Pink
  • 14 oz penne rigate
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tbsp butter

Your favourite pink sauce, with a glass of the Pink where the vodka used to be.

Full recipe →
Illustration: golden veal escalopes with capers and lemon on an oval plate in a candlelit trattoria, with a copper pan and a flute of pale gold Prosecco.03Our signature

Secondo · 30 min · serves 4

Scaloppine al Prosecco

Veal, lemon, capers and a buttery Prosecco sauce

  • ⅔ cup Bella Principessa Gold
  • 8 veal escalopes
  • ⅓ cup all‑purpose flour
  • 2 tbsp olive oil

Marsala’s job, done lighter: lemon, capers and a buttery Prosecco sauce.

Full recipe →

One Bottle, One Dinner

Five glasses.
One goes in the pan.

A bottle of Bella Principessa Gold
The pan
You
Guest
Guest
Guest

A 750 mL bottle pours five 5‑oz glasses. One goes into the pan; the other four go round the table. Dinner for four, one bottle.

In the Kitchen

Four rules
for the pan.

Regole della Cucina

Bella Principessa Social Club

Brut, not Extra Dry

Extra Dry is the sweeter style. Reduced, it turns a sauce sticky.

Cook it down first

Let the wine bubble down by half before cream or butter goes in.

Save a cold splash

A little cold Prosecco at the end brings the fruit back.

Pour the rest with dinner

The wine in the pan is the wine in the glass.

Buon appetito.

Cooking questions.

Can you cook with Prosecco?

Yes, anywhere a recipe asks for dry white wine. It adds acidity and fruit, and the bubbles cook off in seconds.

Which Prosecco is best for cooking?

A Brut. Under EU rules a Brut has less than 12 g of sugar a litre; Extra Dry, despite its name, has 12 to 17 g. Reduced in a pan, that difference turns a sauce sticky.

Does the alcohol cook off?

Not all of it. The longer a dish simmers, the less is left, but some always stays. Cooking for children or anyone avoiding alcohol? Use stock and a squeeze of lemon instead.

Fizzy or flat: which is better for cooking?

For almost everything, it makes no difference. The bubbles leave a hot pan in seconds, so last night’s bottle makes the same risotto, sauce or pot of mussels. What matters is that it is dry and fresh: stopper it, keep it cold, and use it within two or three days, or freeze it in an ice‑cube tray for sauces. Keep fresh bubbles for batter, where they make a fritto misto lighter, the way sparkling water does.

Before dinner? Twelve Prosecco cocktails →

Michael Goldstein holding a bottle of Bella Principessa by the water

Written by

Michael Goldstein

Founder and Creative Director, Bella Principessa

He believes the best introductions happen over a glass, and that time with family and friends, old and new, is the real luxury. He writes here about the brand and the people who share it.

Read his story →

Share a moment.
One sip at a time.
Made in Italy.

Bella Principessa Prosecco D.O.C. on a blue butterfly card Bella Principessa Prosecco D.O.C. Rosé on a pink butterfly card