Lovage Sauce (Garlic & Herb Aioli)

5 from 9 votes

A refreshing, addicting sauce made from fresh lovage or other herbs you'll want to put on everything. Once you make the basic recipe play around and modify it by adding some of the optional ingredients.

Prep Time5

Cook Time5

Total Time10

Course: Condiment

Cuisine: American, French

Keyword: garlic herb aioli recipe, lovage recipe

Servings: servings

Calories: 130kcal

Author: Alan Bergo

Cost: 5

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.

Video

Notes

This recipe uses raw egg yolk. If I'm serving it to the elderly, very young children or pregnant women I will pasteurize it by substituting 1 hard boiled egg for the egg yolk. This decreases the shelf life of the sauce to a day or two as the egg eventually lends an aroma to the sauce.

For a thicker sauce like traditional aioli, add extra oil slowly after the 8 oz has been added. You can add up to ½ cup if you want it extra thick.

Do not use more than 50% extra virgin olive oil to avoid the aioli becoming too stiff. Do not use rice bran oil or other oils that are meant for only high heat cooking as they tend to not emulsify well.

Nutrition