Garlic and Almond Soup Recipe

Garlic Almond

This soup is a gazpacho variety, that is to say the base of the soup is bread and water, oil, vinegar, salt, and garlic.  In this case, ground almonds and grapes are added rather than the tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers that are usually associated with gazpacho.

Garlic and Almond Soup

Meal type Almonds, Garlic
Season Spring, Summer

Ingredients

  • 2 cups of good quality breadcrumbs (ideally made from stale white bread with the crusts cut off) just moistened thoroughly with a bit of water.
  • 1 cup of ground almonds (you can make these yourself by blanching and skinning almonds and using them whole in the recipe. However, it is easier to buy ground)
  • 3 garlic cloves (skinned)
  • ½ cup good quality olive oil
  • 5 TBSP red wine vinegar
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 2 cups water
  • 2 cups of chopped green or red seedless grapes

Directions

1 Squeeze the moistened breadcrumbs to get rid of any excess water and put them in a cuisinart (magimix, food mill – help – not sure what it is called in the USA. The thing that is NOT the blender but I guess you could do this in a blender. I’ve never tried, I don’t own one!) with the chopping blade in it.
2 Add the ground almonds and the garlic cloves and blend thoroughly.
3 With the motor on, add the olive oil in a thin, steady stream and then add the vinegar and the salt.
4 Add about 1 cup of the water (be careful not to overfill your machine) and then decant the mixture into a big bowl and whisk in the rest of the water.
5 Chill overnight or for several hours at least.
6 To serve: Chop up the grapes and distribute between 8-10 bowls. Then ladle over the cold soup and serve immediately. This soup is surprisingly filling and goes beautifully with a plain salad that has a simple oil and vinegar dressing. The sharpness of the salad compliments the garlicky richness of the soup. If serving bread with it, a plain white, good quality “airy” and crusty bread goes well. Nothing too rich or heavy.

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