Chilled white almond & garlic soup
This summery cold soup comes from the Basque region of southwest France . An essential ingredient is piment d ’ Espelette , a smoky hot spice made from dried chilli peppers that ’ s produced only in this area .
Michel Roux
SERVES 6 4 garlic cloves , roughly chopped 1 egg yolk 150ml grapeseed oil 3 slices day-old white bread 250g ground almonds 800ml almond milk or water 1 tbsp sherry vinegar , plus more to taste pinch of white pepper drizzle of olive oil pinch of ground piment d ’ Espelette garlic croutons , to serve ( optional ) corn and smoked duck cake , to serve ( optional )
AS SEEN ON THE Big Kitchen
1 Purée the garlic with the egg yolk in a mini blender or food processor . Start adding the grapeseed oil , a little at a time , to make a garlic mayonnaise . Scrape into a bowl and set aside . 2 Put the bread and ground almonds into a food processor , add the almond milk or water and blitz thoroughly until really smooth . Tip this into a bowl , then stir in the garlic mayonnaise and vinegar . Season with salt and white pepper . Chill for at least 4 hrs . 3 Eat the soup cold , finished with a little olive oil and a sprinkle of piment d ’ Espelette . Serve with garlic croutons or corn and smoked duck cake , if you like .
Credit : The French Kitchen
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