FEEDS 8 TO 10
In my opinion, here are only a handful of good chilled soups in the world: chilled pea soup; asparagus soup; puree of cauliflower; vichyssoise; and, of course, this soup. White gazpacho, called ajo blanco, is a chilled Spanish soup made of bread, ground almonds, garlic, and a lot of olive oil. I first had it as part of a set meal when Emily and I were in Andalusia on our honeymoon. The version I was served also had peeled roasted white grapes floating on top. I loved it, so of course when I got home, I started playing around with making it. It’s a great soup to serve for a crowd because you make it a day ahead of time, chill it, and then just ladle it when you’re ready.
For this recipe, I use Marcona almonds, a Spanish variety with a distinctive crunchy texture and a rich, nutty, almost sweet flavor, usually sold lightly fried in oil. I finish this soup with white verjus, which is the pressed juice of unripened grapes. It’s not as acidic as vinegar, although it is sold alongside the vinegars in specialty food stores.
For the Soup
1 cup diced crustless stale BAGUETTE
3/4 cup extra virgin OLIVE OIL
2 cups thinly sliced LEEKS (about 2 medium leeks; white part only)
1/4 cup thinly sliced SHALLOT (about 1/2 medium shallot)
1/2 teaspoons KOSHER SALT, plus more for seasoning
2 GARLIC CLOVES, thinly sliced
11/2 cups whole toasted MARCONA ALMONDS, plus 1/4 cup for garnish
For the Grapes
2 cups seedless GREEN GRAPES
3/4 cup extra virgin OLIVE OIL
KOSHER SALT and freshly ground BLACK PEPPER
3/4 cup VERJUS or champagne vinegar
For Serving
1 tablespoon SHERRY VINEGAR, plus more as needed
Good fruity extra virgin OLIVE OIL
MARASH OR ESPELETTE PEPPER, or smoked hot paprika
Put the bread in a small bowl and add enough cold water to cover (about 1 cup). Soak the bread for 10 minutes to soften.
Warm 1/4 cup of the oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat until it slides easily in the pan, about 2 minutes. Add the leeks and shallot, season them with salt, and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes, until they begin to soften. Add the garlic and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes, until the leeks are soft and the garlic is fragrant and soft but not browned. (Lower the heat if the vegetables are browning. The idea is to produce a white soup, so any added color that you get on any of your vegetables will interfere with that goal.) Turn off the heat and allow the vegetables to cool slightly.
Scrape the contents of the sauté pan into a blender. Add the almonds and the 11/2 teaspoons salt and pulse until the almonds are finely ground. Squeeze the water out of the bread, discard the water, and add the bread to the blender. Pulse a few times to pulverize the bread. With the blender running, gradually add 2 to 3 cups water, or enough to obtain a loose, soupy consistency. Pass the soup through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl. Gradually add the remaining 1/2 cup oil in a thin stream, whisking constantly to emulsify. Chill for at least 1 hour to allow the flavors to make friends, and for as long as 1 day.
To prepare the grapes, preheat the oven to 375°F. Put the grapes in a medium baking pan. Drizzle the grapes with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and toss gently to coat the grapes with the seasonings. Roast the grapes for 25 minutes, or until they start to pop and release their juices. Remove the grapes from the oven and set aside to cool slightly. Transfer the grapes and any juices that have collected in the pan to a bowl and drizzle with the verjus.
To serve, remove the soup from the refrigerator and give it a little stir to recombine the ingredients. Stir in the sherry vinegar. Taste for seasoning and add more salt or vinegar as desired. Ladle the soup out into bowls and garnish with a small bunch of the roasted grapes. Drizzle the fruity olive oil over the soup and sprinkle each serving with a pinch of Marash pepper.