AJOBLANCO

AJOBLANCO image

Categories Nut

Yield 4 servins

Number Of Ingredients 8

5 oz. raw almonds, without skins.
Garlic (one or two cloves, your call. I suggest you start easy and add more as you go)
6 tablespoons good olive oil
2 tablespoons Sherry vinegar
6.5 oz. bread, crusts off, stale if you have it but don´t go crazy if you don´t
salt to taste
cold water
Grapes or(less traditionally) cubes of Granny Smith apples, melon or stoned cherries to serve

Steps:

Soak the bread in water if it´s stale, and if not then don´t bother. Throw the almonds into a food processor and grind them as finely as possible. Now add the garlic, bread (squeezed out if it was soaked), salt, olive oil and a bit of water and pulse til you have a paste. Add iced water and pulse again, and then just add water until you have the consistency you like. I think ajoblanco should be thin and drinkable, like gazpacho, but there is a school of thought that favours the spoonable, slightly thicker stuff. Add the vinegar, adjust the salt, and chill it thoroughly. When it´s time to eat, check again for salt and vinegar, since the cold might have numbed their taste. Serve in soup bowls, scatter a few seeded grapes or stoned cherries, and leave the olive oil on the table for the drizzlers.