Ajo Blanco is a Spanish cold creamy white soup made from raw almonds. It is similar to gazpacho and contains its four main ingredients: water, olive oil, garlic and bread. Sometimes this soup is called “White Gazpacho”.
The name of the cold soup is Ajo Blanco, translated from Spanish as “White Garlic”.
The main ingredient in Ajo Blanco is almonds. It has to be: fragrant, fresh and not stale.
In Spain itself, there are two ways of serving this cold soup: in Malaga, Ajo Blanco is served as I suggest, with grapes. But in Granada, it is served with baked “in the jacket” potatoes, and sometimes with anchovy fillets. The first version is more popular in Spain, and that’s what we’ll make.
⏱ Cooking time — is 2 hours and 15 minutes overall. Includes 30 minutes of preparation and cooking + 105 minutes unattended.
🥣 Ingredients
🍽 For 4 servings:
- 180 g (6,4 oz) of blanched almonds (you can buy them already peeled or peel them yourself)
- 750 ml (3,2 cups) of cold, purified water
- 1-2 medium garlic cloves
- 200 g (7,1 oz) bread (soft part only, without crusts)
- 1.5 tsp. sherry vinegar (I used white wine vinegar, but you can also substitute it with red wine vinegar)
- 30 ml extra virgin olive oil (~2 tbsp.)
- salt, black pepper
- seedless grapes (optional, for serving)
- handful of almonds (optional, for serving)
Equipment:
- blender (preferably stationary)
🔪Step by step Directions
Take a saucepan. Break 200 g (7,1 oz) of bread into it, use only the soft part of it, without the crust. Take a good bread, you can use yesterday’s bread or stale, dried bread.
Squeeze 1-2 medium garlic cloves into the pan with the bread (alternatively, grate or finely chop with a knife).
Stir in 180 g (6,4 oz) blanched almonds. Pour in 1.5 tsp. sherry vinegar. I used white wine vinegar instead of sherry vinegar. You can also substitute red wine vinegar for the sherry vinegar, or you can use lemon juice altogether.
Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a pot and pour in 750 ml (3,2 cups) of cold, purified water.
Season with a good pinch of salt and pepper.
Using a blender, beat all the components of the soup until smooth. It is best to use a stationary blender, as it will give a more uniform consistency. But if you can’t use a stationary blender, use an immersion blender like I do.
Taste and season soup with extra salt and pepper, if needed.
Place the finished soup in the refrigerator to chill for at least 2 hours. It is customary to serve Ajo Blanco cold.
If you want to serve the soup right away, let it steep for at least 15-30 minutes and serve in chilled plates (you can put it in the freezer for the same 30 minutes) with ice.
While the soup cools, prepare the almonds for garnishing. Take a small handful of almonds and cut into thin slices. In a dry pan, fry them for 1-2 minutes, stirring all the time. Remove from heat as soon as the almonds begin to brown. Allow to cool.
Serve soup cold, garnished with a few grapes (whole or cut in half) and toasted almonds.
Ajo Blanco – Spanish cold almond cream soup
Equipment
- Blender (preferably stationary)
Ingredients
- 180 g blanched almonds
- 750 ml water (cold, purified)
- 1-2 cloves garlic
- 200 g bread (soft part only, without crusts)
- 1,5 tbsp. sherry vinegar (can be replaced with white and or red wine vinegar)
- 2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
- salt
- black pepper
- seedless grapes (optional, for serving)
- handful of almonds (optional, for serving)
Instructions
- In a saucepan, break the pulp of white bread.Squeeze out the garlic, pour in the almonds, add the sherry vinegar, olive oil and water. Season with salt and pepper.
- Process with a blender until smooth.
- Put the soup in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours to cool and infuse.
- Thinly slice a handful of almond kernels and roast them in a dry pan for 1-2 minutes until they begin to brown. Cool.
- Serve drizzled with olive oil, garnished with grapes and toasted almonds.
