Roasted Garlic Aioli

Aioli is a beautiful sauce to serve on or with vegetables, seafood, or meats. I made some for an intimate New Year’s Eve dinner last night, and would like to share my recipe with you.

Roasted Garlic Aioli:

1 head garlic, roasted and mashed (see Note)

1-to-2 tbsp. (15-to-30 mL) olive oil 

1 c. (250 mL) mayonnaise (see Further Note)

1 tsp. (5 mL) fresh lemon juice

Dash pepper

1 tbsp. (15 mL) fresh parsley, chopped fine

Squeeze each garlic bulb while garlic is still warm. Add olive oil, mayonnaise, lemon juice, and pepper with hand blender or mini-chopper. Stir in parsley. Refrigerate until needed. 

Note: For this recipe, I roasted two heads of garlic as an experiment - one in the oven, and one in the microwave. The microwave did the job faster, steaming rather than “roasting” the garlic - but the fragrance, taste, and color of the microwaved garlic was greatly inferior to that of the oven-roasted garlic. The microwave method is useful when you’re pressed for time, but use the the tried-and true oven method if you have a few minutes to spare. Here’s each method:

Microwave method: Slice ¼ in. from top of unpeeled head of garlic. Place in microwave-safe dish. Drizzle 1-to-2 tbsp. (15-to-30 mL) olive oil over garlic, allowing to flow over each bulb (clove). Add 1 tsp. (5 mL) water. Cover and cook at 50% power in microwave. Let stand 3 min. before testing tenderness of bulbs with sharp knife (If bulbs are not soft, repeat process. I found 3 min. quite enough to cook a standard-sized head of garlic with 10 bulbs. Elephant garlic will need longer cooking). While garlic is still warm, squeeze bulbs from head for use in recipe, leaving peel behind. Olive oil poured over garlic bulbs before baking is sufficient for use in this recipe - no need to add more. 

Oven method: Preheat oven to 425 deg. F. Slice ¼ in. (0.6 cm) from top of unpeeled head of garlic. Place on square of foil large enough to cover garlic. Drizzle 1-to-2 tbsp. (5-to-10 mL) olive oil over garlic, allowing to flow over each bulb (clove). Gather edges of foil up and over garlic to seal. Bake until tender, testing with sharp knife after 35 min. Baking time will vary with size of garlic head. I found 35 min. in a standard oven quite enough to cook a medium-sized head of garlic with 10 bulbs. While garlic is still warm, squeeze bulbs from head for use in recipe, leaving peel behind. Olive oil poured over garlic bulbs before roasting is sufficient for use in this recipe - no need to add more. 

Further Note: Purists - and the French, of course - prefer to make their own mayonnaise. Homemade mayonnaise is far superior to commercially prepared mayo, and takes only a couple of minutes. To make your own mayonnaise, see  Machine-Made Mayonnaise. 

Slice 1/8th in. (0.3 cm) from top of unpeeled head of garlic.

Microwave method: Place in microwave-safe baking dish.

Chop parsley fine.

Add, using pulse setting, or simply stir in.

Serve with your favorite meats, fish, or vegetables.