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

Sometimes called "white gazpacho," this elegant cold soup is thickened with almonds and bread and brightened with a splash of sherry vinegar.

A bowl of ajo blanco garnished with green grapes, mint, and a drizzling of olive oil.

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

Why It Works

  • 一个简单的面包、杏仁、和water becomes unbelievably creamy after a trip to the blender.
  • A green grape garnish completes the soup, giving it a bright and fruity accent.

世界上有一个层次结构的面包soups-ahierarchy of appeal. See, it takes relatively little to convince most people that gazpacho is an appealing idea. Who wouldn't want a chilled tomato soup, loaded with the ripe flavors of summer? The bread in it is almost a footnote. One step down is Italianpappa al pomodoro, a warm tomato soup in which the pieces of bread have softened to a custardy texture. It's a little hard to explain why it's so good, but I've found most people are willing to give it a try if you promise them they won't regret it. (They never do regret it, by the way.)

Somewhere further down the list isribollita, a Tuscan bread-and-vegetable stew made from leftover minestra because, let's be honest, anything in which "leftovers" is part of the pitch gets an automatic demotion in terms of desirability. And then there's Portugueseaçorda, which most folks have definitely not heard of and, more often than not, are happy to leave it that way.

Very near the bottom, though, comes a cousin of gazpacho called ajo blanco (sometimes spelled as a single word, ajoblanco). It'd be fitting to call it the black sheep of the gazpacho family, except for the fact that it's distinctly white. Its name doesn't do it any favors either, given that it means "white garlic." If I told you I was going to make you a chilled bread-and-garlic soup, how excited would you get, really? (If your answer is "very," you're in the extreme minority.)

So, how can I convince you to add this soup to your summer recipe rotation if it isn't there already? Some people take the easy route by calling this soup "white gazpacho," which is a pretty slick marketing device, and not entirely inaccurate—before tomatoes arrived in Europe from the Americas, ajo blanco was about the closest thing to gazpacho that one was likely to find in Spain.

But I'd like to sell the soup on its own merits. I'd start by explaining that the bread is almost entirely a textural ingredient. Sure, it adds a subtle wheat-y bass note of flavor, but more than anything else, it provides the starch that thickens the soup, acting as a kind of structural backbone.

Next, I would fill in an important blank: The soup may be named for the garlic in it, but the real main ingredient is almonds. The garlic adds complexity and some kick, but it's the almonds that give ajo blanco its soul. Once blended, they release their milk, with its delicate floral and nutty fragrance, into the soup. When it meets the thickening power of the bread, the almond milk takes on an uncanny creaminess—you simply can't believe this is a dairy-free soup (a vegan one, actually!).

Blanched almonds sitting in a blender.

For my recipe, I tested a few versions of the almonds: plain blanched (skinned) almonds, toasted ones, and Marcona almonds, a Spanish variety that's usually lightly fried or toasted. My preference was for either the plain blanched almonds, which provide the lightest, freshest, cleanest almond flavor, or the Marconas, which offer just a shade of toasty complexity. The ones I toasted myself, even though they were toasted only lightly, hit the soup with a heavy-handed roasted-nut flavor that I just didn't enjoy. You can maybe make it work if you toast your almonds to an almost imperceptible degree, but otherwise, I'd just stick with plain ones or Marconas.

Back in the old days, the whole thing would have been made with a mortar and pestle, pounding the nuts and old, stale bread together to reduce them to a purée, then working in garlic, water, and olive oil, plus a splash of sherry vinegar to brighten up the richness.

On the left: olive oil being poured into a tablespoon. On the right: sherry vinegar being poured into a tablespoon.
Olive oil and sherry vinegar add contrasting rich and bright notes to the soup.

Today, though, you can rely on a blender. If you're using a less powerful one, you may want to pass the soup through a fine-mesh strainer afterward, just to get out any gritty bits. A high-powered blender, on the other hand, can transform it into a velvety-smooth texture in a minute or two, no straining required.

One note on the bread. Historically, most bread soups have been a vehicle for stale bread that otherwise would have gone to waste. But, after lots of testing on this soup and other bread soups, I've found that it simply doesn't matter what you use. This soup works with stale bread, it works with oven-dried bread, and it works with fresh bread. Once the bread is fully saturated with liquid, you cannot tell the difference.

Close up of ajo blanco after being blended,
Once it's blended, you won't believe it contains no cream.

After blending, you'll want to put the soup in the fridge, giving it enough time for the flavors to meld and develop, while the whole thing takes on a refreshing chill.

Here's the last thing to know about ajo blanco: Even after you've made the soup, after you've blended it and chilled it and given it time to settle into itself, if you try it just like that...you likely won't be all that impressed. Some people try to fix this by blending in other ingredients, like cucumber, apple, and more. That can be good, but I suggest trying it in its most basic form first. The key is to hold your judgment until you've eaten the finished, plated soup, because ajo blanco isn't ajo blanco without its fruit garnish.

That's true of a lot of soups—the garnish elevates it from an everyday experience to something special. But with ajo blanco, it goes beyond that. The garnish—usually fresh grapes, but sometimes other fruit, like melon—completes it. Ajo blanco just isn't a fully realized dish until it's studded with juicy, sweet-tart bites.

But, oh boy, do I promise you: Once you try ajo blanco in that state, it'll go right to the top of your cold-summer-soup list.

A bowl of ajo blanco, garnished with green grapes and a drizzle of olive oil.

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

July 2017

Recipe Facts

4.5

(2)

Active:10 mins
Total:2 hrs 10 mins
Serves:6 servings

Rate & Comment

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  • 1 cupblanchedor Marconaalmonds(6 ounces;170g), see notes

  • 3 cups (720ml) coldwater

  • 1 to 2medium clovesgarlic(depending on how strong you want the garlic flavor to be)

  • 1/2 pound (225g) fresh,crustless rustic bread(see notes), cut into 1-inch cubes (about 3 cups)

  • Kosher salt

  • 1 1/2teaspoons(7ml)sherry vinegar, plus more if desired

  • 1 1/2tablespoons(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

Directions

  1. 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.

    Pieces of torn bread in a blender containing blended almond and water for ajo blanco base.
  2. Transfer soup to a sealed container and refrigerate until very well chilled, at least 2 hours and up to 2 days.

  3. 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

原始变白(去皮)杏仁创建洁净t-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).

Nutrition Facts(per serving)
341 Calories
23g Fat
28g Carbs
9g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 6
Amount per serving
Calories 341
% Daily Value*
Total Fat23g 29%
Saturated Fat 2g 12%
Cholesterol0mg 0%
Sodium488mg 21%
Total Carbohydrate28g 10%
Dietary Fiber 4g 15%
Total Sugars 6g
Protein9g
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.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)