Whisk Away to the Middle East: Dive into our Creamy Homemade Hummus!

Are you ready to take a culinary journey to the Middle East without leaving your kitchen? Buckle up your taste buds, because we’re about to embark on a homemade hummus making adventure!

The Hummus Revelation:

This recipe makes the creamiest, fluffiest and velvety hummus, ever. Ever. In my (not so) humble opinion, this tops any grocery store hummus. Move over, store-bought hummus – there’s a new dip in town, and it’s about to become your go-to favorite!

And, because we’re going to cheat, we can make this hummus recipe, easily and inexpensively, anytime!

Hummus is an eons-old Middle Eastern classic. Traditionally, hummus is made from chickpeas, (AKA garbanzo beans) tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and salt. That’s it and that’s all.

Tahini is a paste of ground sesame seeds and can be a little expensive. You can substitute other nut butters but it’s not quite the same. I paid $7.00 for 16 ounces of tahini which will make eight batches of hummus at 87¢ per batch. Once you have tahini, the major expense to make hummus is a can of garbanzos.

Unveiling the Cheat Code:

Usually, to make creamy hummus you’d soak dried garbanzos overnight then boil them for a couple of hours until they’re so well cooked they’re falling apart. And then make hummus.

Now, I don’t have that kind of forethought. When I want hummus, I want hummus now.  You could always just use beans right out of the can, but sometimes the hummus texture comes out grainy.

Picture this: lusciously smooth hummus, whipped up effortlessly and inexpensively. How? By uncovering the ultimate hummus hack – simmering canned beans to perfection for that flawless texture. No more grainy disappointments, just pure hummus bliss.

But wait! There’s more! Let’s make garlic infused olive oil for roast garlic flavor without having to roast the garlic. This will save us time, too!

A word to the wise, if you have some, this is one time to break out the really good olive oil.

 

CREAMY HOMEMADE HUMMUS

This recipe can easily be doubled. And probably should.

Yield: About 2 cups  Servings: 6 to 8 appetizer Cook Time: 20 minutes Total Time: 45 minutes

What You’ll Need:

1 (15.5 oz.) can garbanzos

1 garlic clove – minced

3 tablespoons good extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for serving

¼ cup lemon juice (1 large lemon)

¼ cup tahini – well-stirred

½ teaspoon ground cumin

Kosher salt to taste

2 to 3 tablespoons water

Optional garnish – Pinch of paprika or cumin, pine nuts, parsley.

Serve with – pita bread, sweet peppers, cucumber, olives.

 

Here’s How:

Drain and rinse garbanzos and place in a saucepan. Cover with water by one inch and heat to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer beans for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, mince the garlic and place in a small pan with olive oil. Let this warm gently until the garlic starts to bubble. Turn off heat and let rest while the beans simmer. Drain and cool the beans.

The order in which you process the ingredients is important. In the bowl of a food processor, cream together the tahini and lemon juice for 1 minute, then scrape the sides of the bowl and process another minute.

Add the olive oil with the garlic, cumin and salt to the tahini and lemon. Process for 1 to 2 minutes, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl occasionally until well blended.

Add half of the chickpeas and process for 2 minutes. Scrape sides and bottom of the bowl, then add remaining chickpeas and continue to process another 2 minutes until very smooth. To make this completely smooth; slowly add 2 to 3 tablespoons of ice water until you reach the perfect consistency.

Adjust seasonings as desired. Serve drizzled with olive oil and dash of paprika.

As I was developing this recipe, I had to make it four times. Not because it wasn’t good, but because it kept disappearing before I could get it photographed! Enjoy every savory bite!

 

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