Come summertime, I feast on tomatoes, and gazpacho is one of my favorite ways to use them. Over the years, I’ve shared a couple of recipes for gazpacho, including this super-easy food processor gazpacho and a smooth and creamy gazpacho that’s just as tasty.
Several years ago, I came across a recipe for white gazpacho in an issue of Food & Wine. I dogeared the page and recently made the recipe again. Come to find out, this version with cucumbers, apples and grapes is just as traditional in Spain as the tomato-based gazpacho. Who knew?
I made several adjustments to the original recipe, adding Greek yogurt for example. This soup is bright and flavorful, much more interesting than a basic cold cucumber soup. Give it a try!
Cool white Gazpacho
serves 4
1 cup of bread cubes, cut from stale white bread or a baguette with the crusts removed
1 cup vegetable broth
1/2 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
1/2 cup milk
1 cup blanched sliced almonds, toasted
1 1/2 cups peeled, seeded and chopped cucumber
1 green apple, peeled, seeded and chopped
1 cup seedless green grapes
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/4 cup good olive oil (plus more for serving)
1–2 tablespoon sherry or champagne vinegar
Salt and pepper (white pepper, if you have it)
Garnishes (see below)
In a small bowl, place the bread cubes; pour the vegetable broth over and let sit while you peel/chop/prep the rest of the ingredients. In another small bowl, whisk together the milk and Greek yogurt until perfectly smooth.
Transfer bread cubes and any remaining broth, the almonds, chopped cucumber, apple, grapes, garlic and olive oil to a blender. Puree until very smooth. Place a strainer over a large bowl and pour the soup through, pressing firmly on the solids to extract as much liquid and flavor as possible. (I found that I had about 1 cup of solids left in the strainer, so I ran that back through the blender and again through the strainer to get as much liquid as I could.) Whisk in the yogurt mixture and 1 tablespoon of vinegar; add 1/4 tsp. of table salt and a pinch of pepper. Taste and adjust seasonings, adding a splash more vinegar if you want more tartness.
Garnishes
- snipped fresh chives
- thyme leaves and flowers
- nasturtium flowers
- drizzle of olive oil
- teeny, tiny dice of cucumber
- a sprinkling of toasted sliced almonds
- very fine, toasted breadcrumbs
