Courtesy Doug Psaltis, chef/partner, Booth One, Chicago
This clever soup serves up classic gazpacho flavors in a verdant hue. Some heirloom tomatoes are green when ripe, but the green tomatoes called for here are just unripe common varieties. You can substitute tomatillos when green tomatoes aren’t available, just add a teaspoon of sugar.
Chef Doug Psaltis
Psaltis worked with top chefs like Alain Ducasse, Thomas Keller and David Bouley before he opened a series of beloved Chicago restaurants. Booth One, his latest, is a reinvention of the legendary Pump Room at the Ambassador Chicago hotel. There, Psaltis serves updated fine-dining classics as well as creations that reflect the vegetable-forward and globally influenced direction of modern American cuisine.
Last Updated: May 11, 2023
Ingredients
Directions
Blend tomatoes, cucumber, scallions, garlic, breadcrumbs and ¼ cup olive oil until smooth. Add spinach and lemon juice, and purée until silky. Add salt, to taste. Refrigerate.
Serve in shallow bowls topped with crab and drizzled with remaining olive oil. Serves 4.
Pair It
Dürnberg 2017 Tradition Reserve Grüner Veltliner (Weinviertel); $18, 92 points. “Grüner does translate to green,” says Seth Wilson, head sommelier at Booth One. “This wine exhibits fresh lime and youthful orchard fruits, but resting on its lees for 10 months gives it a beautiful yeastiness to complement the breadcrumbs blended into the soup. Secondary flavors of cucumber, white radish and white pepper heighten the savory, spicy and herbaceous flavors.”
