Instructions: Ajo blanco, as its called in Spain, gets its creaminess from crushed almonds, bread and olive oil. The recipe takes advantage of both a food processor and a blender to make it smooth and creamy. A hearty Italian bread lends body to the soup. The recipe is easily doubled. To garnish, pass bowls of cold green grapes or croutons.

1 cup blanched, shelled whole almonds
2 thick slices of stale, crusty, country-style bread (about 1/4 pound), crusts
removed, bread torn into large pieces (1 1/2 cups loosely packed)

1/2 cup water plus 2 cups ice water (divided)

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons wine vinegar (white, preferably)

Garnish: cold green seedless grapes or small bread cubes fried in olive oil

Chop almonds coarsely in food processor, then transfer to blender.

Place bread pieces and 1/2 cup water in separate bowl, turning bread so that it absorbs most of water. Once water is absorbed, gently squeeze bread to rid it of excess (but not all of) water and place in food processor. Process in brief spurts into a textured cream. Transfer bread mixture to blender with almonds.

Turn on blender and slowly pour in olive oil, blending it into a thick cream mixture. Add garlic, salt and vinegar; blend to mix well.

With motor running, add about 1 cup ice water. If blender will hold the volume, add remaining 1 cup ice water. Otherwise, transfer soup to glass or ceramic container and stir in remaining ice water.

Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Soup will be thick because olive oil will have tightened up. Give it a stir and check seasonings, adding more salt or vinegar if necessary. Add 1 or 2 tablespoons ice water to thin it, if needed, but since soup loses its chill after a few minutes, texture naturally will relax and be creamy.

Pour into dishes. Garnish each serving with 5 or 6 cold green grapes.

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