Mellow Traditional Aioli With Roasted Garlic

Step 1

Gather the ingredients. The Spruce / Nita West Preheat an oven to 375 F. Remove as much excess peel, or papery covering, on the heads of garlic as you can. To make getting the garlic out a lot easier later, use a sharp paring knife to snip off the tip of each clove of garlic. Put the garlic heads on a large piece of aluminum foil, then drizzle with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. The Spruce / Nita West Fold the foil up and crimp to enclose the garlic. Roast until browned and supremely tender, about 45 minutes. The Spruce / Nita West Open the foil packet and let sit until cool enough to handle. The Spruce / Nita West Using a small spoon, dig out the garlic cloves from the head. You can also just squeeze the cloves out. Mash the cloves into a paste. Now choose to proceed with the blender method or the whisk method. The blender is faster; the whisk gives the cook more control, and thus there's less risk of the aioli "breaking," or having the egg mixture and the oil separate. The Spruce / Nita West

Step 2

Whirl the garlic, egg, lemon juice, mustard, and salt in a blender to combine. The Spruce / Nita West With blender running on a low speed, drip the oil in slowly, allowing each addition to incorporate into the egg mixture before adding more. As more oil is incorporated, you can add the oil more quickly, working up to a slow stream. The Spruce / Nita West As you add the oil, the mixture will thicken. It's actually pretty crazy how it goes from a liquidy mix of beaten egg into a creamy-looking spread. The Spruce / Nita West Season to taste with salt and pepper. If it's terribly thick, you can thin it a bit with drops of lemon juice. Don't try to thin it with more oil, which will counterintuitively make it thicker. Serve immediately or cover and chill for up to two days. The Spruce / Nita West

Step 3

In a small bowl, whisk together the garlic, egg, lemon juice, mustard, and salt. The Spruce / Nita West Set the bowl on a silicone oven pad or wrap the bottom of the bowl in a kitchen towel to hold the bowl still on the counter without having to hold it. The Spruce / Nita West Whisking constantly, add the oil, drop by drop, allowing each addition to incorporate into the egg mixture before adding more. As more oil is incorporated, you can add the oil more in a stream. The Spruce / Nita West Season to taste with salt and pepper. Whisk in more lemon juice (a drop at a time) to taste, or use the lemon juice to thin the aioli, if needed (it may be counterintuitive, but adding more oil with thicken, not thin the mixture once it starts to thicken, and adding too much oil will break the mixture). Serve the aioli immediately, or cover and chill for up to two days. The Spruce / Nita West