Guest Blog by Julie Maitland
Hummus has become somewhat of a staple in our household. Not only do myself and Davie enjoy a tub with some celery at lunchtime after a heavy training session, but our two boys, Lewis (3) and James (21 months) love it, too. They dip everything into it – it’s like their ketchup. We also encourage all of our students to eat it as it has so many health benefits.
Hummus is a very versatile foodstuff and comes in loads of weird and wonderful flavours. Although shop-bought hummus is fine for convenience, I decided to make my own when I had a couple of minutes to myself (which is rare, I assure you!) to see how it matched up. When I first perfected the recipe, I was chuffed with how easy and quick it was, not to mention a treat for the pallet. I chose to make roasted red pepper hummus but it really is so easy that you could experiment with lots of different ingredients – caramelised red onion, jalapeño, or even sweet potato. Mix it up.
Preparation time: 25 minutes | Cooking time: 10 minutes
Equipment: Baking sheet, mesh strainer/colander, food processor, spatula, measuring cups and spoons
Ingredients:
- 2 whole red bell peppers
- One can of chickpeas (also called garbanzo beans)
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 cup tahini (you can find this in large supermarkets or speciality markets such as Whole Foods)
- Half of a large garlic clove, minced
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil, plus more for serving
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- Pinch cayenne pepper (optional)
- 1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions:
1. Remove the core from your peppers and cut them into large flat pieces. Arrange, skin-side up, on a baking sheet, and grill for 5 to 10 minutes until the pepper skins have charred.
2. Add peppers to a bowl and cover with cling film and wait 15 minutes until cool enough to handle.
3. Gently peel away the charred pepper skin and discard. Reserve 1-2 pieces to use as a garnish when serving then roughly chop the rest.
4. In the bowl of a food processor, combine tahini and lemon juice. Process for 1 minute. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl then turn on and process for 30 seconds. This extra time helps “whip” or “cream” the tahini, making smooth and creamy hummus possible.
5. Add the coconut oil, minced garlic, cumin, cayenne pepper, and salt to the whipped tahini and lemon juice. Process for 30 seconds, scrape sides and bottom of bowl then process another 30 seconds
6. Drain the liquid from your chickpeas then rinse well with water. Add half of the chickpeas to the food processor then process for 1 minute. Scrape sides and bottom of the bowl, add remaining chickpeas, and process for 1 to 2 minutes or until thick and quite smooth.
7. Add the peppers to the hummus and continue to process for 1 to 2 minutes or until smooth. If the hummus is too thick or still has tiny bits of chickpea, with the food processor turned on, slowly add 1 to 3 tablespoons of water until the consistency is perfect.
8. Finely chop reserved pepper from earlier. Then, scrape the hummus into a bowl, make a small well in the middle and add finely chopped peppers.
9. Enjoy!
N.B. If stored in an airtight container in the fridge, your hummus will be safe to eat for up to 7 days,