The Best Pizza and Prosecco Combinations

Many will admit to, though wish they didn’t, that pizza is a favourite treat in their weekly dining habits (49% of people in the UK eat pizza at least once a week) with the history of this famous Italian dish dating back to 11 June 1889 when a Margherita was served to King Umberto I and Queen Margherita by Neapolitan pizza maker Raffaele Esposito. Today the world has a big love of pizza with 5 billion pizzas being dished out worldwide every year with over half of them being consumed in the USA. The UK enjoys its fair share also with recent yearly reports showing it has a market value of over £3 billion with it being the most popular food in restaurants and the second most popular item we purchase from supermarkets.

Another great invention from Italy is Prosecco and it too can also boast some amazing figures with well over 100,000,000 bottles being enjoyed in the UK alone in 2017! There are different styles of Prosecco to enjoy, different qualities and importantly different producers too – There are of course the cheaper options that we all love to overindulge in just because we can and we can also scale up on price per bottle by experiencing some of the finer producer labels.

Generally, if we are to take advantage of Prosecco and its great economical price point we will be opting for a DOC (Denominazione di Origine Controllata). This region of Prosecco produces over 440 million bottles annually of which 75% is exported globally.

So what about two of Italy’s finest, Pizza and Prosecco, how well do they pair together? Is it a gastronomic match made in heaven seeing that both are on many peoples shopping lists weekly and I am sure at any one moment across the country someone, somewhere will be enjoying a slice of pizza or a glass of Prosecco! Well, we decided to put them to the test by tasting each of the pizzas alongside three Prosecco labels below – I made notes of each of the pairings, 24 in total, I wish not to think about the calories! (All pizzas were homemade with fresh ingredients and sprinkled with grated cheddar so to make sure the toppings expressed their flavours better):

8 Popular Pizzas along with 3 Prosecco tasting to discover the best Pizza and Prosecco Combination:

(1) Bisol Desiderio & Figli S.R.L. – Crede Valdobbiadene D.O.C.G. Spumante Brut

(2) Loredan Gasparini – Asolo Prosecco Superiore Docg Brut

(3) Giusti – Rosalia DOC Treviso

 

Tuna & Sweetcorn:

(1) “Delicate fruity flavours initially with doughy notes followed by the tuna.”

(2) “Initial delicate flavours of the superb DOCG from Loredan Gasparini then a touch of savoury flavours from the pizza.”

(3) “Somewhat clashed for me. Mostly fish flavours expressed.”

Chicken, Spinach and Red Pepper:

(1) “Good variety of flavours, nothing outshines itself in the palate, an easy to enjoy combination.”

(2) “Initial great flavours of over ripe pears from the DOCG Prosecco. Mostly citrus/savoury in the lengthy. OK balance, nothing to shout out about though.”

(3) “Pleasant balance of flavours. Fruity / citrus quickly lost and just savoury flavours of the pizza left.”

Mozarella, Feta and Spinach:

(1) “Combined together I only get cheese flavours and pastry in the length.”

(2) “Citrus flavours and the feta expresses itself mostly.”

(3) “Relaxing balance. Good citrus fruits and savoury flavours in the palate.”

Cheese and Tomato:

(1) “Nice balance. Crisp and refreshing in the palate. All flavours expressed the quickly fades.”

(2) “Nice balance initially then slightly green fruits come alive in the palate in the length.”

(3) “Fruity experience initially then savoury pizza base flavours in the length.”

Vegetable (Broccoli, Green Olive, Black Olive, Red/Green/Yellow Pepper, Mushroom and Tomato):

(1) “Fruity and subtle veg flavours.”

(2) “Better balance of the three. Slightly drier flavours from the Prosecco and pizza base. Tomato flavours in the length.”

(3) “Lively in the palate with pizza base and olives in the length.”

Ham and Pineapple:

(1) “Initially you get a burst of flavours from the Prosecco and then on to savoury flavours from the pizza. A quick fade of flavours in the palate.”

(2) “A somewhat clash here in the balance. Neither the wine nor the pizzas flavours expressed in a pleasant way.”

(3) “Light citrus flavours from the wine initially then a dry ham flavour is expressed as if it had been fried in a citrus sauce. Quite an interesting combination.”

Pepperoni, Bacon and Black Olive:

WINNER (1) “Citrus fruit burst initially then followed by non greasy pepperoni flavours that has a good length in the palate – Very more’ish.”

(2) “Allows the cooked flavours of the pepperoni and burnt crust to come alive mostly.”

(3) “Cuts through the salty flavours of the pepperoni, with hints of fruit and pizza base in the length.”

Meat Feast (Bacon, Mince Beef, Mushroom, Green Olive, Ham and Red Chilli):

(1) “Together leaves a touch of the nice beef flavours with spicy flavours in the length.”

(2) “The delicate fruity flavours of the DOCG Asolo Prosecco still lives within this combination with the heat of the red chilli in the background and bacon flavours in the length.”

(3) “Lively in the palate with. Seemed to reduce the spicy red chilli flavours and leave hints of citrus fruits and savoury meat flavours.”

 

49% of people in the UK eat pizza at least once a week – Fact taken from Glamour Magazine: https://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/article/crazy-pizza-facts