For me, tapas are a wonderful invention. These delicious hot and cold Spanish snacks come in lots and lots of tastes and textures, in serves small enough to try many different dishes without looking like, well, the glutton I may be. It was in my favourite tapas bar that I discovered the thick, garlicky, pale, richness of White Gazpacho.
Chilled, topped with white grapes and served very elegantly in a small, stemmed glass, it went down very well with the sherry martini it accompanied.
White Gazpacho is typically made with white bread soaked in milk and blended with almonds, cucumber, olive oil, sherry vinegar and lots of garlic. Simply replacing the bread with a good quality gluten-free version works a treat.
Here I’ve added lightly toasted pepitas as well as the grapes for texture and contrast but I believe toasted, slivered or chopped almonds are more traditional.
Last night when friends arrived I served the White Gazpacho with drinks, in my grandmother’s cut–crystal glasses, and each delicious, creamy shot was just the right size to whet the appetite before dinner.
Rosie
WHITE GAZPACHO
Makes 10 tapas serves. Double the recipe for 6-8 entree size serves.
50 gm day old gluten-free white bread, crusts removed, cubed
50 ml milk
100 gm organic almonds, skinless
250 ml ice-cold water
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 Lebanese cucumber, peeled, seeded and roughly chopped
100 ml good quality olive oil (not too robust in flavour)
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar (or to taste)
Salt to taste
Extra virgin olive oil to drizzle
30 green grapes, peeled if possible
2 teaspoons lightly toasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds) or slivered almonds
Soak the bread in the milk for 10 minutes or so then squeeze out any excess milk and place in a blender along with the almonds and cold water. Blend for a minute or so.
Add garlic and cucumber and blend. With the motor running, drizzle in the 100 ml of olive oil then add the sherry vinegar and salt to taste.
If you have a very strong blender you may not need to strain the mixture. If not, strain through a fine sieve.
Refrigerate for several hours until well chilled. If it is too thick, thin out with some iced water.
Quarter the grapes.
Divide the gazpacho into serving glasses, drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with the grapes and pepitas.