Ajo Blanco (Spanish Chilled "White Gazpacho" Bread and Almond Soup)

Ingredients:

- 1 cup blanched or Marcona almonds (6 ounces; 170g), see note
- 3 cups (720ml) cold water
- 1 to 2 medium cloves garlic (depending on how strong you want the garlic flavor to be)
- 1/2 pound (225g) fresh, crustless rustic bread (see note), cut into 1-inch cubes (about 3 cups)
- Kosher salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons (7ml) sherry vinegar, plus more if desired
- 1 1/2 tablespoons (22ml) extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for garnish and for serving
- Green seedless grapes, crushed toasted almonds, and thinly sliced fresh mint leaves, for garnish

Preparation:

- In a blender, combine almonds with water and garlic and blend at high speed until milky; you may need to stop and scrape down sides of blender jar once or twice.
- Add bread and blend until very smooth. Season with salt, then blend in vinegar and olive oil. If using a less powerful blender, you may want to pass the soup through a fine-mesh strainer at this point; with a high-powered blender, that won't be necessary.
- Transfer soup to a sealed container and refrigerate until very well chilled, at least 2 hours and up to 2 days.

To Serve:
- Cut up grapes into smaller pieces and toss with almonds, mint, and just enough olive oil to coat. Season garnish with salt. Shake or stir soup well.
- Check consistency and thin with cold water, if desired. Adjust seasoning, adding more salt and/or vinegar, if desired. Pour into chilled serving bowls.
- Spoon grape garnish on top, lightly drizzling more olive oil onto each serving in a decorative manner.
- Serve.

Special Equipment

Blender, fine-mesh strainer (optional)

Notes

Raw blanched (skinless) almonds create the cleanest-tasting, most delicate soup; Marcona almonds will add a very light toasty nuttiness. You can toast your own almonds if you want, but beware: Even a light toasting can overwhelm the soup with an acrid roasted flavor.

This recipe is traditionally made with stale bread, but my testing revealed that fresh works just as well; you can use stale bread here, but you'll want to use slightly less, about 1/3 pound (150g).

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Nutrition Values:

Amount per serving
Calories 341
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 23g 29%
Saturated Fat 2g 12%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 488mg 21%
Total Carbohydrate 28g 10%
Dietary Fiber 4g 15%
Total Sugars 6g
Protein 9g
Vitamin C 1mg 3%
Calcium 136mg 10%
Iron 3mg 14%
Potassium 283mg 6%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.