Chilled Asparagus with Wild Garlic Mayo

Slofoodgroup Team June 02, 2021

Wild Garlic and Saffron Mayo with Spring Asparagus

Asparagus is a great source of nutrients, fiber, and vitamins. It's flavorful on its own, when cooked right, but tastes even better dressed in mayos and aiolis.

We recommend wild garlic and saffron mayo to pair blanched asparagus. The sweet, earthy taste of saffron complements the asparagus just fine, while the wild garlic gives it a kick without overpowering the sauce.

This recipe combines both vegetable and olive oil to balance the flavor, as well as a bit of mashed potatoes to prevent splitting (no, it's not cheating). We love this vegetable delight served either as a side dish or as a vegetarian main course, next to rice or bread and poached eggs.

Quick Saffron Aioli with Wild Garlic atop Blanched Asparagus  

Ingredients

• 12-14 asparagus spears
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon yellow mustard
• 1 handful of fresh, wild garlic (can be substituted with 1 clove of garlic)
• 1 pinch of saffron
• 1/2 cup/150 ml vegetable oil
• 3 tablespoons cold mashed potatoes
• 1/2 cup/150 ml olive oil plus 1 tablespoon to dress the asparagus
• lemon juice, to taste
• salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

Procedure

1. cut off the hard part of the each asparagus spear and set aside;
2. bring a pot of salted water to a boil and once it starts boiling, add the asparagus in and cook for 5-6 minutes; remove the asparagus from heat and transfer to ice-cold water to stop the cooking process and to preserve the color; once cold, transfer to a paper towel to dry;
3. blend the egg yolk, mustard, wild garlic and saffron with a pinch of salt with a hand mixer; with the machine still running, slowly but gradually add the vegetable oil until it emulsifies; add the mashed potato and blend until smooth, then gradually incorporate the olive oil to finish; add 1-2 tbsp of cold water if the consistency is too thick; season with salt and pepper and adjust the acidity with lemon juice;
4. to serve, place the asparagus in a large bowl and season with salt, pepper and 1 tbsp of olive oil; arrange 6-7 asparagus spears each plate and spoon the wild garlic mayo on top.