Cooking with champagne
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Cooking with champagne adds the ultimate in understated elegance to a dish. Why not treat someone to a romantic evening or make any occasion special with an extra splash of bubbly.
You can use champagne in recipes in a similar way to cooking with any wine. Used to deglaze a pan, or added in the early stages of a recipe and allowed to bubble up, most of the alcohol will be burnt out and it will add a depth of flavour and become an integral part of the dish. However, champagne is also wonderful added at the end of cooking where it can give a fresh and delicate flavour. If you have just a bit left in a bottle, stir it into a parmesan risotto just before serving to make a simple dish sublime.
You don't need to open a bottle especially for cooking with as a little bit goes a long way. Leftovers are fine to use, even if flat, as long as they are not more than a week old when it will begin to taste vinegary. You needn't use expensive champagne either and can substitute it for any sparkling wine in recipes.
Champagne can be used in every course, if you're feeling extravagant. We have compiled a selection of recipes including a fizzy champagne and carrot soup from Antony Worrall Thompson for starters, an indulgent dish of chicken in a champagne cream sauce from Simon Rimmer, and Celia Brooks Brown's elegant pudding of champagne jelly served with grapes and blueberries in a champagne flute. Or what could be more romantic than James Martin's passion fruit and champagne syllabub?
Go on, add some sparkle to your cooking...
Champagne Carrot Cappuccino
Antony Worrall Thompson adds bubbly to this carrot soup for a fabulous fizzy flavour
Serves 4
Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
100g onions, chopped
1 tbsp coriander seeds, crushed
300g carrots, peeled and finely sliced
2 bay leaves
1 stick celery, finely sliced
175g potatoes, peeled and finely diced
1.2 litres vegetable stock
300ml champagne (or substitute sparkling wine)
bruschetta slices, to serve
Method
1. Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onion and coriander seeds and cook for about 7 minutes.
2. Tip in the carrots, bay leaves, celery and potato and soften for a further 1 minute.
3. Pour in the vegetable stock and half the wine, and bring to the boil. Simmer for about 15 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.
4. Puree the soup in a food processor or liquidiser until smooth, and pass through a fine sieve. Check the seasoning and adjust as necessary.
5. When ready to serve, reheat gently. Pour a couple of tablespoons of champagne into each bowl when serving. The soup will fizz gently. Serve at once, accompanied with bruschetta.
Risotto All'Aragosta e Champagne (Lobster and Champagne Risotto)
Champagne and lobster add a little touch of luxury to this creamy dream of a risotto from Gennaro Contaldo
Serves 4
Ingredients
800g lobster, fresh and cooked
135ml extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
375g risotto rice
1 tbsp capers, finely chopped
10 anchovy fillets
2 glasses champagne
For the stock
1 lobster, shell
1 celery, stalk, roughly chopped
2 carrots, roughly chopped
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 bunch parsley, roughly chopped
2 litres water
Method
1. Cut the lobster in half lengthwise from head to tail making sure you don't lose any of its juices, collect the juice in a container and set aside. Remove all the flesh in the head and tail, roughly chop and set aside together with the juices.
2. Roughly chop the shell and set aside.
3. Remove the claws and put in a saucepan with the vegetables, parsley and water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 30 minutes.
4. Heat 6 tablespoons of the olive oil in a deep frying pan and add the lobster shell. Fry for 3-4 minutes to draw out the flavour. Remove the shells and add them to the simmering stock.
5. Add the chopped onion to the olive oil and cook gently. Stir in the rice until all the grains are coated in the oil. Stir in the capers and anchovies. Add the champagne, allow it to evaporate, and then reduce the heat.
6. Gradually add the stock ladle by ladle, allowing the rice to absorb each ladle full before adding more, stirring all the time. Continue to do this for about 15 minutes. At this stage when the risotto is nearly ready, add the pieces of lobster flesh with its juices and cook for another 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, add the remaining olive oil and stir well.
7. Leave the risotto to rest for about 2 or 3 minutes.
8. Meanwhile, crack the lobster claws, remove the flesh and chop it. Serve the risotto immediately, with the chopped claw meat on top.
Chicken Tarragon with Champagne Cream Sauce
Delight your loved one with Simon Rimmer's luxuriously seductive chicken dish, served with almond rice, asparagus and a rich and creamy sauce
Serves 2
Ingredients
2 chicken breasts
2 tbsp olive oil
50ml champagne
200ml double cream
bunch of tarragon, leaves picked and chopped
50g chanterelle mushrooms
6-8 asparagus spears
200g basmati rice, freshly cooked
25g butter
25g flaked almonds, toasted
cherry tomatoes, to garnish
Method
1. Season the chicken breasts with salt and freshly ground pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a heavy-based frying pan. Fry the chicken breasts until browned on both sides, remove and set aside.
2. Add the champagne to the pan and cook, stirring to deglaze the pan, for 1-2 minutes. Add the cream and tarragon and cook, stirring often, until the cream has thickened and reduced. Season and transfer the sauce into a jug and keep warm.
3. Wipe the pan clean and heat the remaining olive oil. Return the chicken to the frying pan and add the chanterelle mushrooms. Cook for a further 5-10 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.
4. Meanwhile, blanch the asparagus in a pan of boiling salted water; drain and keep warm.
5. Mix together the freshly cooked basmati rice, butter and flaked almonds. Pack the almond rice into a ramekin or dariole mould.
6. To serve, arrange the asparagus spears in a fan around a large serving plate. Unmould the almond rice in the centre. Top with the chicken breasts and drizzle over the champagne cream sauce. Garnish with cherry tomatoes and serve.
Champagne Jelly
This most grown-up of jellies from Celia Brooks Brown makes a light and sophisticated dessert, ideal for dinner parties
Serves 4
Ingredients
100g blueberries
100g small seedless red grapes
500ml champagne or sparkling wine
50g caster sugar
3 tsp vegetarian gelatine, (agar agar)
Method
1. Divide the blueberries and red grapes between 4 tall glasses or champagne flutes.
2. Pour half the champagne or sparkling wine into a saucepan and add the sugar and gelatine. Heat gently, stirring until the sugar and gelatine have dissolved, then heat until almost boiling.
3. Take off the heat and slowly add the remaining champagne. Allow to cool, then pour into the fruit-filled glasses and chill for three hours or until softly set.
4. Serve immediately - the jelly will soften the longer it is out of the refrigerator.
Passion Fruit and Champagne Syllabub
Champagne, strawberries and passion fruit are combined in James Martin's sophisticated version of a traditional dessert
Serves 4
Ingredients
4 lemon or plain shortbread biscuits, crumbled
100ml champagne
100g strawberries, sliced, 4 whole ones reserved
250g mascarpone
4 tbsp icing sugar
4 passion-fruits, pulp scooped out and reserved
200ml double cream
2 tbsp flaked almonds, toasted
fresh basil leaves, to garnish
Method
1. Place a little of the crumbled shortbread in the bottom of four serving glasses and moisten with some of the champagne.
2. Top with a layer of sliced strawberries.
3. Place the mascarpone cheese and icing sugar in a bowl. Add in most of the remaining champagne and the passion fruit pulp and mix well.
4. Whip the cream until soft peaks form. Fold the cream into the passion fruit mixture adding the remaining champagne to loosen it a little.
5. Place a spoon of the passion fruit mixture in each glass and top with another layer of crumbled shortbread, then strawberries. Spoon the remaining passion fruit mixture into the glasses and scatter with the toasted almonds.
7. Garnish each portion with a sprig of basil and a strawberry and serve.
You can use champagne in recipes in a similar way to cooking with any wine. Used to deglaze a pan, or added in the early stages of a recipe and allowed to bubble up, most of the alcohol will be burnt out and it will add a depth of flavour and become an integral part of the dish. However, champagne is also wonderful added at the end of cooking where it can give a fresh and delicate flavour. If you have just a bit left in a bottle, stir it into a parmesan risotto just before serving to make a simple dish sublime.
You don't need to open a bottle especially for cooking with as a little bit goes a long way. Leftovers are fine to use, even if flat, as long as they are not more than a week old when it will begin to taste vinegary. You needn't use expensive champagne either and can substitute it for any sparkling wine in recipes.
Champagne can be used in every course, if you're feeling extravagant. We have compiled a selection of recipes including a fizzy champagne and carrot soup from Antony Worrall Thompson for starters, an indulgent dish of chicken in a champagne cream sauce from Simon Rimmer, and Celia Brooks Brown's elegant pudding of champagne jelly served with grapes and blueberries in a champagne flute. Or what could be more romantic than James Martin's passion fruit and champagne syllabub?
Go on, add some sparkle to your cooking...
Champagne Carrot Cappuccino
Antony Worrall Thompson adds bubbly to this carrot soup for a fabulous fizzy flavour
Serves 4
Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
100g onions, chopped
1 tbsp coriander seeds, crushed
300g carrots, peeled and finely sliced
2 bay leaves
1 stick celery, finely sliced
175g potatoes, peeled and finely diced
1.2 litres vegetable stock
300ml champagne (or substitute sparkling wine)
bruschetta slices, to serve
Method
1. Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onion and coriander seeds and cook for about 7 minutes.
2. Tip in the carrots, bay leaves, celery and potato and soften for a further 1 minute.
3. Pour in the vegetable stock and half the wine, and bring to the boil. Simmer for about 15 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.
4. Puree the soup in a food processor or liquidiser until smooth, and pass through a fine sieve. Check the seasoning and adjust as necessary.
5. When ready to serve, reheat gently. Pour a couple of tablespoons of champagne into each bowl when serving. The soup will fizz gently. Serve at once, accompanied with bruschetta.
Risotto All'Aragosta e Champagne (Lobster and Champagne Risotto)
Champagne and lobster add a little touch of luxury to this creamy dream of a risotto from Gennaro Contaldo
Serves 4
Ingredients
800g lobster, fresh and cooked
135ml extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
375g risotto rice
1 tbsp capers, finely chopped
10 anchovy fillets
2 glasses champagne
For the stock
1 lobster, shell
1 celery, stalk, roughly chopped
2 carrots, roughly chopped
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 bunch parsley, roughly chopped
2 litres water
Method
1. Cut the lobster in half lengthwise from head to tail making sure you don't lose any of its juices, collect the juice in a container and set aside. Remove all the flesh in the head and tail, roughly chop and set aside together with the juices.
2. Roughly chop the shell and set aside.
3. Remove the claws and put in a saucepan with the vegetables, parsley and water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 30 minutes.
4. Heat 6 tablespoons of the olive oil in a deep frying pan and add the lobster shell. Fry for 3-4 minutes to draw out the flavour. Remove the shells and add them to the simmering stock.
5. Add the chopped onion to the olive oil and cook gently. Stir in the rice until all the grains are coated in the oil. Stir in the capers and anchovies. Add the champagne, allow it to evaporate, and then reduce the heat.
6. Gradually add the stock ladle by ladle, allowing the rice to absorb each ladle full before adding more, stirring all the time. Continue to do this for about 15 minutes. At this stage when the risotto is nearly ready, add the pieces of lobster flesh with its juices and cook for another 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, add the remaining olive oil and stir well.
7. Leave the risotto to rest for about 2 or 3 minutes.
8. Meanwhile, crack the lobster claws, remove the flesh and chop it. Serve the risotto immediately, with the chopped claw meat on top.
Chicken Tarragon with Champagne Cream Sauce
Delight your loved one with Simon Rimmer's luxuriously seductive chicken dish, served with almond rice, asparagus and a rich and creamy sauce
Serves 2
Ingredients
2 chicken breasts
2 tbsp olive oil
50ml champagne
200ml double cream
bunch of tarragon, leaves picked and chopped
50g chanterelle mushrooms
6-8 asparagus spears
200g basmati rice, freshly cooked
25g butter
25g flaked almonds, toasted
cherry tomatoes, to garnish
Method
1. Season the chicken breasts with salt and freshly ground pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a heavy-based frying pan. Fry the chicken breasts until browned on both sides, remove and set aside.
2. Add the champagne to the pan and cook, stirring to deglaze the pan, for 1-2 minutes. Add the cream and tarragon and cook, stirring often, until the cream has thickened and reduced. Season and transfer the sauce into a jug and keep warm.
3. Wipe the pan clean and heat the remaining olive oil. Return the chicken to the frying pan and add the chanterelle mushrooms. Cook for a further 5-10 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.
4. Meanwhile, blanch the asparagus in a pan of boiling salted water; drain and keep warm.
5. Mix together the freshly cooked basmati rice, butter and flaked almonds. Pack the almond rice into a ramekin or dariole mould.
6. To serve, arrange the asparagus spears in a fan around a large serving plate. Unmould the almond rice in the centre. Top with the chicken breasts and drizzle over the champagne cream sauce. Garnish with cherry tomatoes and serve.
Champagne Jelly
This most grown-up of jellies from Celia Brooks Brown makes a light and sophisticated dessert, ideal for dinner parties
Serves 4
Ingredients
100g blueberries
100g small seedless red grapes
500ml champagne or sparkling wine
50g caster sugar
3 tsp vegetarian gelatine, (agar agar)
Method
1. Divide the blueberries and red grapes between 4 tall glasses or champagne flutes.
2. Pour half the champagne or sparkling wine into a saucepan and add the sugar and gelatine. Heat gently, stirring until the sugar and gelatine have dissolved, then heat until almost boiling.
3. Take off the heat and slowly add the remaining champagne. Allow to cool, then pour into the fruit-filled glasses and chill for three hours or until softly set.
4. Serve immediately - the jelly will soften the longer it is out of the refrigerator.
Passion Fruit and Champagne Syllabub
Champagne, strawberries and passion fruit are combined in James Martin's sophisticated version of a traditional dessert
Serves 4
Ingredients
4 lemon or plain shortbread biscuits, crumbled
100ml champagne
100g strawberries, sliced, 4 whole ones reserved
250g mascarpone
4 tbsp icing sugar
4 passion-fruits, pulp scooped out and reserved
200ml double cream
2 tbsp flaked almonds, toasted
fresh basil leaves, to garnish
Method
1. Place a little of the crumbled shortbread in the bottom of four serving glasses and moisten with some of the champagne.
2. Top with a layer of sliced strawberries.
3. Place the mascarpone cheese and icing sugar in a bowl. Add in most of the remaining champagne and the passion fruit pulp and mix well.
4. Whip the cream until soft peaks form. Fold the cream into the passion fruit mixture adding the remaining champagne to loosen it a little.
5. Place a spoon of the passion fruit mixture in each glass and top with another layer of crumbled shortbread, then strawberries. Spoon the remaining passion fruit mixture into the glasses and scatter with the toasted almonds.
7. Garnish each portion with a sprig of basil and a strawberry and serve.
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