Monday 7 May 2012

Roasted Garlic Aioli


Not to sound snooty patooty or anything, but I get pretty annoyed at some of the things that are called aioli these days.  Perhaps because of my teacher mom, or perhaps just because I’m just a pain in the neck, I want things to be named correctly.  If they’re not, I get cranky.

It seems that, hereabouts, if it's a mayonnaise-like concoction with vegetables or herbs mixed in, it gets called an aioli, and that's just not right.  The very name “aioli” is a conjunction of the Provençal words for garlic and oil.  If a sauce contains all of the other ingredients an aioli does, but doesn’t contain garlic or doesn’t contain oil, it’s not an aioli. It’s that simple.

Aioli is a garlic based emulsion, often containing the same ingredients as mayonnaise but always containing garlic. It originated in southern Europe and can be found in the cuisines of Provence, Catalonia, the Occitan Valleys of Italy, and Malta. 

Aioli can be served with almost anything that tastes well with garlic.  Traditionally, it's served with seafood, potatoes, or boiled vegetables.  In some areas it’s combined with tomatoes. 

At our house, it’s used wherever we can find an excuse to include it in the recipe.

I make my aioli with roasted garlic because I prefer its milder flavor to the sharp bite of raw garlic. 

When I'm planning to include it in a sauce, my garlic roasting technique is very basic:

I slice the top off of a bulb of garlic so that some of each clove is exposed.  I place the garlic in the center of a square of foil and drizzle it with olive oil.  I add a sprinkle of salt.


I close the foil up like a hobo pack and place it in a 350ºF oven to bake. .




Baking times can vary depending upon your oven and upon the age and dryness of the garlic.  It usually takes about 35 minutes in my oven.  When it’s done, it looks like this:


For food safety’s sake, it’s important to allow your garlic to cool completely before using it to make aioli. 

To make Roasted Garlic Aioli, you’ll need:


  • 1 head of roasted garlic
  • 2 egg yolks (As you can see, one of mine broke.  Don’t worry if yours do too. You’re going to whiz them up in the blender anyway.)
  • 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1-1/2 Tablespoons lemon juice
  • Approximately 1 cup extra virgin olive oil.
Squeeze the roasted garlic from the garlic head into the carafe of your blender.  Add the egg yolks, dry mustard, salt, and lemon juice.  Put the lid on, but leave the removable cap off so you can add the olive oil into the sauce while the blender is running.

With the blender running at medium/low speed, gradually stream in your olive oil until the aioli reaches the consistency you prefer.  We like ours pretty thick.

Transfer the aioli to a jar and store it in the refrigerator. It’s best to make this in fairly small quantities because aioli doesn’t keep indefinitely.  It should be used up within a few days.
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This recipe is linked to Gallery of Favorites hosted by The 21st Century Housewife and Premeditated Leftovers, to Foodie Friday hosted by Rattlbridge Farm,  to Think Pink Sundays hosted by Flamingo Toes, to Scrumptious Sunday Link Party hosted by Addicted to Recipes, to CraftOmaniac Monday hosted by CraftOManiac, to Makin' You Crave Monday hosted by Mrs. Happy Homemaker, to Delicious Dish Tuesday hosted by Coping With Frugality, Full Time Mama, and Mama Chocolate, to Tasty Tuesday hosted by Balancing Beauty and Bedlam, to It's Party Time at The 36th Avenue, to Cast Party Wednesday hosted by Lady Behind the Curtain and to Unveil Your Genius hosted by Goings on in Texas.

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19 comments:

chow and chatter said...

this looks wonderful and great info

Aunt B said...

Thanks Rebecca. I'm glad you found it informative. :)

Tammy said...

Do you have to put eggs in the aoili? We can't eat eggs and I miss aoili!

Tammy said...

Do you need to use eggs to make aoili? We can't eat eggs, though I miss them terribly.

Aunt B said...

Both garlic and mustard are emulsifiers so you should be able to make aioli without eggs. i know that they do so in some regions of Spain. I would think that the resulting sauce would be a little thinner though. Another alternative is to use a vegan egg substitute recipe. There are several available on line. If you do try it without eggs, can you let me know how it turns out? I'd be interested to know.

Unknown said...

That sounds really good, and looks easy to do.

Aunt B said...

It is good Patricia. I do hope you'll try it. :)

April J Harris said...

Aioli really is popular over here in Europe and yours looks and sounds delicious. I like the idea of using the roasted garlic as it truly does taste so much milder.

Aunt B said...

I would imagine it is, April. You're much closer to where it originated! :) I'm glad you like the roasted garlic idea. It works very well for me.

Alea Milham said...

I just harvested my garlic and look forward to giving this a try!

Aunt B said...

Lucky you to have homegrown garlic! :)

Amanda said...

Thanks for the lesson... I never knew what an aoili actually was. Now I know and I can't wait to make this version! :) As always, we appreciate you linking up with Delicious Dish Tuesday.

Alesha @ Full Time Mama said...

You know, I don't know that I've ever heard of aioli, let alone had it in (on?) anything. What do you do with it? It sounds fantastic, but I do love garlic so... :) I imagine your house smells amazing when you open up that foil right out of the oven! YUM!
Thanks for linking up again this week! Always love seeing what you'll share each week! :)

Mama Chocolate said...

This sounds so good! I am a major fan of anything to do with garlic, and roasted is even better!
Pinned to make later. ;-)

Aunt B said...

Aioli is traditionally served as a side dish (almost like a dip) for boiled or steamed vegetables or potatoes, and for fish. It can be spread over fish before cooking it in the oven or under the broiler. It makes an amazing potato salad. Pretty much any dish that likes garlic will taste well with aioli. We love it on burgers.

Thanks for hosting. I always enjoy the links I find at your party.

Aunt B said...

I'm glad you enjoyed the post Amanda. :) Thank you for hosting. I always enjoy the links I find at Delicious Dish Tuesday.

Aunt B said...

I'm glad you like the recipe. Thank you for pinning it forward. I appreciate the "shares." :)

Taylor @ Pink Heels Pink Truck said...

Thank you so much for linking up this yummy Roasted Garlic Aioli at my Unveil Your Genius link party last week. I hope you'll link up again soon!
http://taylornorris.blogspot.com/2012/05/unveil-your-genius-link-party-12.html

Aunt B said...

Thank you for hosting, Taylor. I appreciate the opportunity to share my recipes and I found lots of interesting links at your party.