An aromatic, creamy sauce with an exciting flavor that never ceases to get impress, this green aioli made with lovage has a bit of a cult following. If you've been to one of my events and emailed me afterward for the lovage recipe, this is what you've been waiting for. I'm sorry it took so long to get it published!
How good can a simple herb sauce be you ask? If there was ever a chef's secret recipe, it would be this. It's one of a few gems I gleaned from a coworker whose intimidating resume included Charlie Trotter hitting him in the face with a sea scallop and rising to sous under Chef Dan Barber.
To this day, if I want to turn heads or make sure I get the gig, this sauce is probably on the menu. But, at the end of the day you can be the judge. The recipe itself is a simple aioli, the difficult part is getting lovage which you'll probably need to grow.
What is Herb Aioli?
Herb aioli is a mayonnaise based condiment made by pureeing egg yolk and herbs with acid like lemon juice or vinegar and other seasonings in a blender or food processor while slowly adding oil. The fat of the egg yolk helps to bind the mixture, emulsifying it into a thick, creamy sauce without adding any dairy.
You can use lots of different herbs, but it's best to stick to soft herbs like basil, lovage, mint, cilantro, or dill. Rosemary, thyme and sage are not generally used as they're too woody to puree. However, if you can find fresh lovage it's the best you'll ever have.
How to Make Garlic Herb Aioli
If you're using lovage the greens should be quickly blanched and shocked in cold water to tame their flavor and lock in a bright green color. Other herbs like cilantro or basil can be added right to the blender or food processor. It's also important to roughly chop the herbs to speed up the emulsification process and break up any stems.
Next an egg yolk garlic and a spoonful of mustard, fresh lemon or lime juice and a splash of water are added. It's important to use only the egg yolk as egg white will make the sauce loose and watery.
Finally the oil is drizzled into the blender in a steady, slow stream. If you have a Vitamix blender you'll be able to see a vortex in the middle that slowly closes as the mixture emulsifies, letting you know it's done.
The finished sauce is a brilliant green and so addictive it would make a shoe taste good.
If you don't have access to fresh lovage plants, buy some seed and grow it yourself for no other reason than to try this sauce.
Chef's Tips and Variations
- You can use just about any herbs or combinations of herbs to make a sauce like this. Basil, cilantro, chives, ramp leaves, lemon balm, oregano, or wild bee balm.
- Over-blending can ruin the bright green color. This can take some practice. Blanching ¼ of the herbs quickly and shocking them can help lock in the color.
- Over time the sauce will lose the bright green color in the refrigerator but is still perfectly fine to use.
- Aioli and mayonnaise based sauces are traditionally made with raw egg. If you're not comfortable with that you can substitute a hard boiled egg for the egg yolk in the recipe to make a pasteurized aioli. The catch is that hard boiled egg decreases the shelf life of the sauce.
How to Use it
From a grilled steak, potatoes, fried fish and vegetables, there's not many things that a good herb aioli isn't good on.
Depending on if you add some extra oil to make it thick, it can also be a sandwich spread or a dip for raw vegetables like cucumbers and crudité plates. I typically use this as a garnish for meat and fish, but it works just as well with vegetables.
Potatoes (and French fries) are a perfect pairing here. Even picky eaters that put ketchup on everything forget about the Heinz when there's green sauce on the table.
One of my favorite variations is to make the sauce with a knob of ginger and hot chili, substituting lime juice for lemon juice. It's great with fish.
Related Posts
Lovage Sauce (Garlic & Herb Aioli)
Equipment
- 1 Highspeed blender or food processor
- 1 Mason jar for storing
- 1 Spatula
- 1 Medium sized knife for chopping the herbs
- 1 2-3 quart soup pot for blanching the greens if using lovage
Ingredients
- 2 oz fresh lovage leaves and tender stems blanched frozen leaves work too.
- 1 large Egg yolk see note
- 3 Tablespoons Lemon or Lime juice see note
- ½ tsp Kosher salt to taste
- 1 medium Clove of garlic only use fresh garlic here
- 2 Tbsp Cold water or an ice cube or two
- 8 oz Mild flavored salad oil add an extra ⅓-1/2 cup to make a dip/spread
Optional ingredients you can mix and match
- 1 tablespoon Dijon or other mustard optional
- 1 1 inch Piece of fresh ginger optional
- 1 tsp Fresh hot pepper, like habanero optional
Instructions
- Bring a pot of water to a boil large enough to accommodate the herbs, Cook the lovage for a few seconds or until just wilted, then remove to cold water, squeeze dry, chop roughly and reserve.
- If you want to make the sauce with basil, cilantro or another soft herb you can skip the blanching step and add the herbs directly to the blender.
- Add the egg yolk, herbs water, salt, lemon juice, garlic, and any optional ingredients like hot chilis and ginger to the blender.
- Working slowly, carefully drizzle in the oil in a thin, steady stream. Once the blades get moving and the mixture starts to puree you can add the oil in a thicker stream.
- Don't over blend the mixture by pouring the oil too slow. You want an even, steady stream here. If the aioli gets warm in the blender you'll lose the bright green color.
- When all the oil has been added the sauce should be thickened, but still pourable. If you want a thicker aioli to use a dip you can add up to half a cup of additional oil.
- Transfer the sauce to a mason jar or other container, using a flexible spatula to get out as much as possible. Put a lid on the jar and refrigerate.
- For extra credit and to keep the color bright, put the jar of sauce in a bowl of ice water for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally until cold before refrigerating.
EC
I forgot to ask. I went rooting around the internet for lovage seeds the other day, and saw some pictures with pinkish flowers and some with yellow (I had to get back to work so I stopped there). Is there a difference? Is one type better than another for whatever reason? Thanks!
Lana
Hi Alan! Love the sauce!!!
What is the best way to preserve lovage leaves to make this sauce in winter?
Alan Bergo
Hi Lana, thanks for reminding me I can't believe I didn't add that. I used to portion the quickly blanched lovage leaves in bags and freeze them so my line cooked could pull a bag, pop it in the vitamix and make the sauce. That's how I kept it on the menu year round.
Lana
Thank you!
Lizzy
Hey! We had a burst of surprise Lovage growing in our garden--we thought it was Italian parsley! I've used a leaf or two in recipes that call for celery when I don't have any on hand, and although it is a nice sub I find it SUPER intense even in small doses. Is Lovage perhaps a cilantro kind of thing where you either love(age) it or leave it??
Alan Bergo
Hi Lizzy. I actually use lovage as a cilantro substitute sometimes as people who don't like cilantro usually enjoy lovage. It is a strong flavor though. Part of the secret here is blanching the leaves before they're blended which calms the flavor down.
EC
Loved "If there was ever a chef's secret recipe, it would be this," because whether or not you realize it, some of the things you say speak volumes about who you are as a person (see five star rating above🙂), and loved "It's one of a few gems I gleaned from a coworker whose intimidating resume included Charlie Trotter hitting him in the face with a sea scallop and rising to sous under Chef Dan Barber," because it was really funny! Thank you for the recipe. Will begin hunt for lovage seeds shortly!
Alan Bergo
Hahaha. Can't make the stuff up. I may have forgot to mention at the time Trotters was one of the best restaurants in the world and was paying him, and other employees $6 an hour in the early 2000's.
EC
I’m shocked at the low pay! Most chefs would guard a secret recipe, you on the other hand, not. That makes you giving it to us even more special, and days later, I’m still laughing at the scallop!!!
Alan Bergo
It’s all true. Trotters was well known in the industry for paying space wages while they were regarded as one of the best restaurants in the world. And Charlie was a known jerk, one of my old chefs almost got in a fistfight with him at a benefit when he said a bunch of nasty things to his wife at a charity dinner. They still talk about it 20 years later.
EC
👍🏼
Roxy
Guess I'm growing lovage this fall! I'm obsessed with this stuff! It was such a treat to have it at the Midwest Wild Harvest Fest.
Alan Bergo
Hey you know what's up. Glad you came. It took every leaf my plants could give to make 2 gallons of the stuff.
jay
Amount/quantity of herbs/Lovage?
Alan Bergo
Thanks I got it. I appreciate the copy edits here.
Gilbert
I initially transplanted lovage root cutting to have the seeds, a staple in ancient Roman recipes. And dehydrated soup mixes. But leaf is the star. Lovage is a hardy perennial. You can cut the stalks back any time before or after flowering/seeds for new growth leaves. Stalks used as flavorful drinking straws.
Alan Bergo
Yep the stems make great bloody Mary straws!
Yvonne
I can’t see where it says how much herb you need for this recipe .
Thanks
Alan Bergo
Thanks for the copy edit!