Blanched Asparagus With Garlic Aioli

5 from 3 votes

This blanched asparagus with homemade garlic aioli dipping sauce is a quick side dish that can be served with chicken, fish, or roasted lamb.

Servings:

Make the garlic aioli. In a large bowl, add the mayonnaise, crushed garlic paste, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Mix well. Set aside. See note 2 for garlic paste.
Prep the asparagus. Wash and chop the ends off of the asparagus (chop about 1.5" or 4 cm from the base).
Blanch the asparagus. In a wide stovetop pot with a lid, bring 2" (5 cm) deep of water to a boil. Once the water is boiling, add a layer of asparagus into the boiling water for 30 seconds to a minute. Once the asparagus turns colors from a light green to a dark green, remove the asparagus using a slotted spoon onto a paper towel lined plate. See note 1.
Serve asparagus with the garlic aioli.

If desiring crunchy asparagus, blanch the asparagus for 30 seconds.
Don't mince the garlic with a knife because the garlic chunks will not evenly disperse into the garlic aioli sauce. I recommend using a garlic press to crush the garlic or mashing the garlic with a mortar and pestle. Here's a post on how to make garlic paste.
Use fresh garlic and fresh lemon juice for this garlic aioli sauce.
Storage: Store the blanched asparagus in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Keep the garlic aioli separate in an airtight container for up to 4 days in the fridge. I don't recommend freezing either the blanched asparagus or the garlic aioli.
Variations:
- Reduce the amount of garlic. If you are not much of an intense garlic person, reduce the garlic. It's easy to add more garlic if needed.
- Add some chili oil to the garlic aioli for spice.