IF you love Italian food and can’t resist a traditional turkey dinner, then you might be tempted to set your culinary compass for this York restaurant which has just launched its Christmas menu – with a twist or two.
Featuring all the big hitters from a festive feast, lovers of cranberry sauce, pigs and blankets, and even Brussels sprouts will not be disappointed by the new Christmas dishes on offer from now through December at Prezzo in Clifford Street.
Christmas menu at Prezzo in York. Photo: NQ
Highlights on the limited-edition menu include Christmas carbonara, with roast turkey, sausage stuffing, pigs in blankets, and crispy sage; Christmas calzone, packed with turkey, brie, mozzarella, and stuffing, and its Christmas pizza, topped with turkey, brie, crispy stuffing, pigs in blankets, and cranberry ketchup.
In support of food-bank charity The Trussell Trust, Prezzo is donating 25p from the sale of each Christmas pizza to this worthy cause.
Christmas pizza at Prezzo in York. Photo: NQ
Other seasonal specials include Tuscan beef and mash, slow-braised featherblade of beef served with creamy mash and tenderstem broccoli, and crab and lobster ravioli in a rich lobster bisque.
Vegetarians and plant-based diners can choose the butternut and mushroom spaghetti and plant-based spaghetti Bolognese, while pizza lovers can tuck into The Veggie One, The Spicy One, or Meat Lovers Pizza.
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From November through to December, diners can sample the special Christmas set menu, offering two courses from £22.95 or three courses from £27.95.
Starter choices include oven-baked creamy mushrooms, in a rich cacio e pepe sauce, and hot honey glazed mozzarella sticks with marinara and basil pesto.
Deigned for sharing, the brie, mozzarella and cranberry dough bites come with a sweet cranberry sauce; while the honey-glazed pigs in blankets, and roasted sprouts with pancetta and parmesan are the ultimate festive side dishes.
Christmas sharing starter at Prezzo in York. Photo: NQ
No Yuletide feast is complete without dessert – and for Christmas there’s the cinnamon swirl cheesecake, featuring a caramelised digestive base, cinnamon cream cheese frosting, and cherry compote, and the triple cooked Nutella doughnut balls – freshly glazed and served with a warm Nutella dip.
Prezzo in York invited a team of Press reviewers to give our verdict on the new Christmas dishes: here is how we rated our plates:
Review 1:
We kicked things off with the sharing starter, a tempting mix of brie, mozzarella, and cranberry dough bites served with a tangy cranberry ketchup. These were piping hot and utterly moreish, so much so that after passing them around the table, they disappeared in no time.
Christmas calzone at Prezzo in York. Photo: NQ
For my main, I opted for the Christmas Calzone, a festive twist packed with turkey, mozzarella, stuffing, and even pigs in blankets. It arrived looking like a giant Christmas cracker. While the filling was tasty and full of seasonal flavour, the generous pizza crust made it a little heavy going for me.
FACT FILE
Prezzo, 1 Clifford St, York
Phone: 01904 221703
Menu: prezzo.co.uk
Dessert was a delightful surprise. With some of the Christmas options sold out, we were invited to choose from the main menu, and I went for the Sicilian Lemon Meringue Pie. This was the perfect finish: sharp, zesty lemon, balanced by light, fluffy meringue – a refreshing contrast to the richness of the main.
To drink, I chose the Wild Strawberry Lemonade, which was light, fruity, and wonderfully refreshing.
Review 2:
My mushroom starter was packed with the title ingredient but was too peppery for my taste and the stringy cheese sauce made it difficult to eat at times.
Mushroom starter at at Prezzo in York. Photo: NQ
However, the Christmas pizza was a winner. The decent base was topped with pieces of turkey, clumps of stuffing, pigs in blankets and dollops of cranberry ketchup and was very tasty and just the thing to get you into the festive spirit.
The best part for me was the dessert: the cinnamon cheesecake came smothered in tangy cherries and was something a bit special – a rich baked cheesecake with a light sponge topper, delicious!
Review 3:
The sharing starter of pizza rolls filled with melting brie and a sweet caramelised onion chutney were irresistible, especially when dipped into the side dish of cranberry ketchup (literally a mix of cranberry sauce and tomato ketchup).
For mains, I picked from the a la carte menu: the spaghetti with king prawns. It was very tasty – the sauce was tangy and the pasta still had a bite. The prawns were big and succulent and the whole dish was smothered in a mound of parmesan shavings. The side of perfectly cooked sprouts with salty cubes of pancetta tasted great and delivered that Christmas flavour hit.
Brussels sprouts and pancetta at Prezzo in York. Photo: NQ
Instead of pudding, I opted for a cocktail, the Morello Cherry Sour, a flavourful concoction of gin shaken with the sweet juice of Morello cherries and a tangy hint of lemon. It had a lovely thick creamy, cherry flavoured foam on the top. I’d go back just to have this again!
Review 4:
From the Christmas set menu, I chose the garlic bread starter which had a festive twist with a tasty Tuscan sausage stuffing topping that was nice and herby, along with melted brie which worked well. It had crispy sage leaves sprinkled on and a cranberry ketchup which I liked but would have preferred on the side as it was sweet. It was more filling than I’d expected so be warned if you’re hoping to have three courses.
Cinnamon cheesecake at Prezzo in York. Photo: NQ
For my main course, I had initially wanted the slow-braised featherblade of beef served with creamy mash, but it was sold out. However I was pleased with my second choice – the Chicken Milanese, which was a large chicken breast, in a lovely lightly breaded coating. It came with a choice of spaghetti pomodoro or French fries which I plumped for, and they were thin and crispy, and came alongside half a grilled lemon and a green salad.
The cheese cake was a very generous wedge, deliciously creamy and topped with sweet cherries that worked a treat. The flavours of cinnamon brought home an early sense of Christmas, which was just what we were after.
Dining and Cooking