Almond Grape Gazpacho

Total Time: 25 mins Preparation Time: 5 mins Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients

• 3 large garlic cloves
• 2 cups diced stale bread, crusts removed
• 2 cups peeled fried and salted marcona almonds or 2 cups whole blanched almonds
• 1 cup seedless grapes, halved
• 1 cup red seedless grapes, halved
• salt
• 1 1/2 cups extra virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2-2 tablespoons sherry wine vinegar
• extra virgin olive oil, as needed
• 1/4 cup diced bread
• salt
• 1/2 cup mixed red and seedless grapes, cut into small dice
• 1/4 cup peeled fried and salted marcona almonds or 1/4 cup whole blanched almond
• 1 scallion, thinly sliced diagonally
• almond oil or extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
• sherry wine vinegar, as needed

Recipe

• 1 for the gazpacho: place garlic cloves in a small pan of cold water over high heat. when water comes to a boil, strain garlic and chill until needed. cover stale bread cubes with water and allow to sit until soft, about 10 minutes.
• 2 squeeze all the water from bread and put into a blender with almonds, grapes and garlic cloves. season with a bit of salt and purée until mixture is very smooth, almost like mashed potatoes; if necessary drizzle in a bit of water to help mixture to purée.
• 3 place 1 cup ice-cold water in a measuring cup. place olive oil in another cup. with blender running, slowly drizzle in both liquids, simultaneously, through opening of blender. gazpacho will turn very smooth and silky. add 1 1/2 tablespoons vinegar or more, if desired. adjust salt to taste. to thin soup, if desired, add 1 to 3 tablespoons cold water, one tablespoon at a time. transfer to a covered container and refrigerate until very cold, about 2 hours.
• 4 for garnish and serving: preheat oven to 400 degrees. drizzle oil over diced bread and sprinkle with salt. spread on a baking sheet and bake until browned, 5 to 8 minutes. transfer to a small bowl, and add grapes, almonds and scallion. add a drizzle of oil and a small sprinkling of vinegar and salt. to serve, ladle gazpacho into four chilled soup plates. add garnish, and drizzle with more oil.