White Gazpacho with Toasted Almond, Champagne Grapes, and Cava

The other gazpacho

Category
Soup
Cuisine
Spanish
Serves
4
Time
45 minutes
From
Bobby Flay

Most of us in the US think of gazpacho as a mixture of finely chopped tomatoes and other crunchy vegetables, married together with tomato juice and some other acidic component. When I opened Bolo, I knew I wanted to experiment with ajo blanco, Spain's white version of the satisfying cold summertime soup. Ajo blanco takes a completely different approach than the red classic.

Almonds, garlic, grapes, and, in my version, Spanish sparkling wine are combined to create an amazing soup. like to garnish with some Champagne grapes for fun.

Adapted from Bobby Flay: Chapter One

Ingredients

  • ¾ cup slivered almonds, toasted
  • 2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
  • 1 garlic clove, smashed and peeled
  • 3 cups white grapes
  • 1¼ cups white grape juice
  • 2 cups cubed white bread, crusts removed
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 2 tablespoons verjus
  • 2 tablespoons walnut oil
  • Champagne grapes, for garnish
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives, for garnish

Instructions

  1. In a blender, combine ½ cup of the almonds, the pine nuts, the garlic, and 1 cup of the white grapes and blend into a paste. If the mixture is difficult to blend, loosen it with some of the grape juice, 1 tablespoon at a time. Add the remaining 2 cups white grapes and the remaining grape juice and blend until smooth. Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl and then return the mixture to the blender, discarding the solids.

Add the bread and ½ cup water and blend, adding more water a little at a time, if needed, to achieve a loose but slightly thick consistency-think of a loose tomato sauce. Season with salt and pepper. Chill the soup for at least 30 minutes and up to overnight.

  1. In a large bowl, whisk the heavy cream until it begins to aerate and thicken. Timing will vary, but your cream is done when you can withdraw the whisk and a peak hangs on and flops slowly.
  2. Remove the soup from the refrigerator and stir in the verjus and walnut oil. Fold in the whipped cream and finish by folding in the cava. Ladle into four bowls and garnish each with Champagne grapes, the remaining ¼ cup slivered almonds, and the chives. Serve.