Spanish Chilled Almond and Garlic Soup (Ajo Blanco)

Instructions

1. 1

   For mise en place, tear 100 g of stale white bread into small chunks and soak them in a small bowl with 100 ml of cold water for 5 minutes. Peel 2 garlic cloves, measure 150 g of blanched raw almonds, and slice 80 g of seedless green grapes in half. Set up a high-speed countertop blender.

2. 2

   Squeeze out most of the excess water from the soaked bread using your hands. Place the squeezed bread, the raw blanched almonds, the peeled garlic cloves, and 5 g of salt into the blender jar. Blend on high speed for 2 to 3 minutes until the mixture turns into a completely smooth and thick nut paste.

3. 3

   With the blender running on low speed, slowly stream in 80 ml of extra virgin olive oil through the lid opening. Take about 1 minute to finish pouring so the oil emulsifies evenly into the almond base without separating. If the soup looks too thick to spin, scrape down the sides with a spatula.

4. 4

   Pour in 20 ml of sherry vinegar and the remaining 500 ml of ice-cold water into the blender. Blend on high speed for another 1 to 2 minutes until the soup achieves a silky, uniform texture. Taste and adjust salt or vinegar if you prefer a sharper kick, blending briefly to combine the flavors.

5. 5

   Transfer the blended soup into a glass pitcher or bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and place it in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. Chilling allows the garlic sharpness to mellow and the flavors to meld together properly while keeping the temperature refreshingly ice-cold before serving.

6. 6

   Ladle the chilled soup into individual wide bowls. Top each serving with the halved green grapes and drizzle a few drops of extra virgin olive oil over the surface. Serve immediately while frosty cold as a traditional Spanish summer starter alongside crusty bread.

Serve with

Drink

Spanish Iced Chamomile and Citrus Tea

Spanish · 25 min