Punkin’ Aioli
Last week at the restaurant, I spent what felt like most of a shift rescuing split things – joking on Twitter that I felt like a Relate counsellor for aioli and custard… And to be honest, I was very excited by the whole thing, because although I’ve made a hundred custards in my little life so far, I’d never ever made my own mayonnaise. And so I made mayo, and aioli, and quince aioli – so naturally when I ended up with a large bowl of pumpkin purée in the fridge from scooped-out Halloween, I thought I’d play with my newfound aioli obsession a little bit more…
4 fat cloves of garlic
100g pumpkin purée
Juice of half a lemon
Pinch of dried red chilli
S&P
3 free range egg yolks
150ml good olive oil
First roast your garlic cloves, I cheat mine in the microwave for 10 seconds at a time, they tend to start smoking so keep an eye on them! I just can’t bring myself to turn the oven on for four poxy garlic cloves…
Anyway, heat and soften your cloves, lob into a bowl and mash well with a fork. Drain your pumpkin purée to lose some of the wetness – pop it into a fine mesh sieve or soft tea strainer and jiggle a spoon around in it to strain out some of the liquid. Tip it into the bowl with the mashed garlic, squeeze over the lemon juice, add a pinch of chilli, season and mix well.
Beat in the egg yolks – then slowly add the olive oil, beating hard all the time to incorporate. In an ideal world it should emulsify (go thick and glossy and slightly waxy) – if you have a blender or food processor, now is a good time to toss the lot in, but I like doing mine by hand as a stress-management technique and a bit of an obsession…
Pour into a jar, label, and pop in the fridge until you have some chips to dip in, or fingers, or dollop it on top of a burger…
Jack Monroe. Twitter: @MsJackMonroe
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/agirlcalledjack
Categories: Blog, Recipes & Food
Do you use all olive oil? I’ve found when I do a (plain) mayo using all olive oil, it tastes pretty bitter. Maybe with the other things in it, it wouldn’t with this. Sounds pretty good anyway 🙂
Yes i use a light and mild one. (I have made mayo with sunflower oil in the past, but an aioli is only an aioli if it uses olive oil, according to the Mrs…!
I like to roast garlic in small saucepan with a little olive oil – I just tip the pan over the gas so the garlic is covered in oil and allow it to simmer for 3-4 mins – the garlic is delicious and like you I have not had to switch the oven on!
I would be a little frigtened that the puree might stop the mixture from emulsifying. I tend to hold my breath, waiting for this magic moment which sometimes doesn’t come.
Is Extra Virgin too er…olivey for this? I tend to keep the EVOO for things lie drizzling and mayo, seems a shame not to use it here?
I expect you already know, and sorry to be a bit of a bore but the garlic should be raw for alioli and you can make an awful lot with just one egg yolk, just keep on adding oil, by the way, the yolks should be room temperature.There are actually alioli recipes made without egg, just oil and garlic, which is the really most delicious way, and you can also make it with milk instead of egg. Trying out all the alternatives should keep you busy for a while!
Yes i just found the raw a bit caustic with the pumpkin, so i roasted it for this one. I’m nothing if not unorthodox 😉
Yum! I haven’t ever thought of adding verge puree to mayo or aioli, but that sounds great; and do tell more about the quince aioli! I can’t quite imagine the combination, but I trust you to make it work 🙂
Can you not just mix the ingredients in a jar to start with? That’s what I do, saves on the washing up and goes straight in the fridge!
Jack. Any ideas on good but cheap blenders?