Garlic Aioli with Garden Vegetables

This is the perfect spring appetizer: fresh vegetables cooked just to al dente and served with a silky, garlicky aioli. It’s a beautiful way to share the season’s new bounty.

 

Garlic Aioli with Garden Vegetables

 

4 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped

Salt

2 large eggs

2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice

1 tsp. Dijon mustard

1 1/2 cups (12 fl. oz./375 ml.) olive oil

 

3/4 lb. (375 g.) slender asparagus spears, tough ends removed, blanched

1/2 lb. (250 g.) green beans, trimmed and blanched

8-10 each small carrots, blanched, and small waxy potatoes, halved and blanched

1 bunch radishes

6 hard-cooked eggs, peeled and quartered

1 baguette, cut into slices 1/4 inch (6 mm.) thick

 

Blend the garlic and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a blender. Add the raw eggs, lemon juice and mustard and blend again. With the motor running, slowly pour in the olive oil and blend until the mixture thickens to the consistency of mayonnaise. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

 

Serve the aioli on a platter with the blanched vegetables, radishes, hard-cooked eggs and baguette slices for dipping. Serves 4.

 

Find more fresh, seasonal recipes in our cookbook Williams-Sonoma Cooking from the Farmers’ Market, by Tasha De Serio & Jodi Liano.