Ajoblanco (White Gazpacho)
The oldest gazpacho, and the coolest
- Soups & Stews
- Soup
- Spanish (Andalusian)
- no cook
- vegan option
- summer
Bread, almonds, garlic and sherry vinegar blended into a chilled white soup and finished with sweet grapes. Ajoblanco predates tomato gazpacho and takes fifteen minutes to make.
Photo: BocaDorada · CC BY-SA 2.0 · via Wikimedia Commons · all image credits
Ingredients
- 4 ounces (115 g) day-old country bread, crusts removed
- 1 cup cold water, plus more as needed
- 1 1/4 cups (175 g) blanched almonds, preferably marcona
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
- 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more to serve
- 1 1/2 to 2 cups ice water
- 1 cup green or red grapes, halved and seeded
- Flaky sea salt, to serve
Equipment
- Blender (high-speed if you have it)
- Fine-mesh strainer
- Small bowl
- Lidded jar for chilling
Why this recipe works
Before tomatoes arrived from the Americas, gazpacho was made of bread, garlic, vinegar and oil, and in Malaga the almonds came late but stayed forever. Ajoblanco is silky, pale and deeply savoury, with the nutty perfume of marcona almonds on top.
The bread is what thickens it. A good loaf of country bread, soaked in water and blended, gives the soup body without cream, and the amount you use is the only real variable in the recipe. More bread makes a spoon-coating soup; less makes something closer to almond milk.
Heirloom varieties to look for
This is a garlic recipe above all. Ajo Rojo, Spanish Roja and Chesnok Red are hardneck varieties with a clean, sweet heat that does not turn harsh when raw. Green garlic, pulled in spring, is even better in a soup like this.
Method
Soak the bread
Tear the bread into pieces and soak it in the 1 cup cold water for 10 minutes, until completely soft. Press lightly; there is no need to squeeze it dry.
Blend the base
Put the almonds, garlic and kosher salt in the blender and pulse to a fine meal. Add the soaked bread and blend for 45 seconds, scraping down the sides, until you have a thick paste.
Emulsify
With the blender running on medium, pour the olive oil in a thin steady stream. The mixture will lighten and thicken, like mayonnaise loosened with water.
Loosen and season
Add the sherry vinegar and 1 1/2 cups of the ice water, then blend for a full minute. Add more water a tablespoon at a time until the soup pours easily from a spoon. Taste and adjust the salt and vinegar; it should be bright and nutty.
Strain and chill
Pour through the fine-mesh strainer into a jar, pressing the solids with a ladle to extract everything you can. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, and up to 2 days.
Serve
Stir before pouring into chilled bowls or glasses. Drop in the halved grapes, thread over a little olive oil, and finish with flaky salt. Serve very cold.
Cook's notes
- Chill the bowls. A warm bowl ruins a cold soup faster than anything else in the kitchen.
- If the soup separates after a day in the fridge, blend it again for 20 seconds; the emulsion will come back.
- Marcona almonds are sweeter and richer than California varieties. If you can only find the latter, add a small piece of day-old bread and a pinch of sugar.
Variations
- Float thin slices of green apple or melon instead of grapes in mid-summer.
- Add 2 tablespoons of Greek yogurt for a creamier, slightly tangy version.
- Skip the bread and use 1/2 cup cooked white rice for a naturally gluten-free soup.
Storage
Refrigerate for up to 3 days in a sealed jar. Do not freeze; the emulsion breaks and the almonds turn grainy.
How to serve it
About 1 cup per serving. Serve it within the time noted above for the best texture, because heirloom produce is far less forgiving than supermarket vegetables.
