Grapefruit apéritif with parsley oil

When a new season comes along, I start hyperfixating on one or two ingredients that I will purchase in bulk and consume on a daily basis (I have a bit of an ADHD personality).

This winter, it was blood oranges, I would eat at least a couple everyday: juiced, in salads, on yogurt or granola and simply cut up with some dates as dessert. When oranges season faded, I shifted my attention to the next best alternative, grapefruits.

It was like an awakening, since before this year I had maybe purchased a couple grapefruits in my life and now I was eating a dozen a week.

My mom, aware of my new obsession, introduced me to ‘Le Chose’, a drink invented in the by chef René Lacoste in the sixties. With only two incredients (grapefruit juice and tonic water) it comes together in 2 minutes and is the perfect spring drink, refreshing and hydrating.

Naturally, as we were organizing a supper club, we had to create our own alcoholic version with a twist: we took the classic recipe and added prosecco and a couple of parsley oil drops to it, and served it to our guests upon their arrival.

You can juice your own grapefruits if they’re in season or use bottled juice.

Serve iced and enjoy!

Ingredients

Prep time: 5 mins

For the drink:

• 3 parts prosecco

• 2 parts grapefruit juice, strained

• 1 part tonic or sparkling water (I like water since it’s less sweet)

For the parsley oil (you’ll need to do a big batch, you’ll be able to use it in many other ways):

• 100g Olive oil

• 20g Parsley leaves

---

Preparation

For the drink:

• mix together the ingredients in a jug full of ice, serve with a few drops of the parsley oil as decoration.

For the parsley oil:

• Blend the oil with the leaves until completely smooth while taking a few breaks so it doesn’t warm up too much from the friction.

• Pour it in a sieve to separate the oil from the blended leaves.

• Conserve the oil in a sealed bottle in your fridge and use the discarded leaves in your salads!