Ajo blanco – made by blending almonds, garlic and bread into a creamy, flavourful soup – is one of Spain's oldest dishes, said José Pizarro. Long before we fell in love with gazpacho, it was the go-to dish for beating the Andalusian heat. It is usually finished with fresh grapes, but here I've added roasted grapes for a contemporary twist: they bring sweetness and warmth to the nutty, chilled soup.
Ingredients (serves 4-6)
- 250g blanched almonds
- 1 bunch of white or blush grapes
- 100ml extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled
- 750ml cold water
- 175g stale bread
- 3 tbsp whole milk
- 1 tbsp sherry vinegar
- handful of chives, snipped
- flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
- Soak the almonds overnight in cold water, then drain.
- Preheat the oven to 160C fan (180C/350F/gas 4).
- Drizzle the grapes in a little extra-virgin olive oil and roast for 30 minutes until tender and lightly golden.
- Put the garlic and water in a blender and blitz together until smooth and creamy looking. Soak the bread in the milk for a few minutes, then add to the blender and blitz again before adding the drained almonds, the vinegar and the 100ml of extra-virgin olive oil.
- Season well with flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and blitz all together until smooth.
- Chill the soup for at least 30 minutes.
- Pour the soup into bowls, top with some of the roasted grapes and chives as well as a good grating of black pepper and a drizzle of extra- virgin olive oil.
- Tip: In addition to the roasted grapes, I often finish my ajo blanco with a scattering of toasted flaked almonds, to add a little extra flavour and texture.
Taken from "The Spanish Pantry: 12 ingredients, 100 simple recipes" by José Pizarro.
Sign up for The Week's Food & Drink newsletter for recipes, reviews and recommendations.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Taps could run dry in drought-stricken TehranUnder the Radar President warns that unless rationing eases water crisis, citizens may have to evacuate the capital
-
Alaska faces earth-shaking loss as seismic monitoring stations shutterIN THE SPOTLIGHT NOAA cuts have left the western seaboard without a crucial resource to measure, understand and predict tsunamis
-
10 great advent calendars for everyone (including the dog)The Week Recommends Countdown with cocktails, jams and Legos
-
6 homes with fall foliagefeature An autumnal orange Craftsman, a renovated Greek Revival church and an estate with an orchard
-
Bugonia: ‘deranged, extreme and explosively enjoyable’Talking Point Yorgos Lanthimos’ film stars Emma Stone as a CEO who is kidnapped and accused of being an alien
-
The Revolutionists: a ‘superb and monumental’ bookThe Week Recommends Jason Burke ‘epic’ account of the plane hijackings and kidnappings carried out by extremists in the 1970s
-
Film reviews: ‘Bugonia,’ ‘The Mastermind’ and ‘Nouvelle Vague’feature A kidnapped CEO might only appear to be human, an amateurish art heist goes sideways, and Jean-Luc Godard’s ‘Breathless’ gets a lively homage
-
Book reviews: ‘Against the Machine: On the Unmaking of Humanity’ and ‘Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice’feature An examination of humanity in the face of “the Machine” and a posthumous memoir from one of Jeffrey Epstein’s victims, who recently died by suicide
-
One great cookbook: Niloufer Ichaporia King’s ‘My Bombay Kitchen’The Week Recommends A personal, scholarly wander through a singular cuisine
-
The dazzling coral gardens of Raja AmpatThe Week Recommends Region of Indonesia is home to perhaps the planet’s most photogenic archipelago
-
Salted caramel and chocolate tart recipeThe Week Recommends Delicious dessert can be made with any biscuits you fancy
