This hummus fits my bill of roasted red pepper hummus – it’s super smooth and creamy, so delicious, and takes less than ten minutes to make!
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Discovering Hummus
When Philip and I first got married I had never eaten hummus before. Remember that this was back in 2001, when Chattanooga didn’t have any natural foods stores and you couldn’t buy prepared hummus in the deli case at any old grocery store. I bought a book that had a hummus recipe (albeit pretty unorthodox, as it was made with yogurt) in it and started making hummus about once a week for a good long while.
Those early days of hummus making were daunting because my dang food processor was so flipping cheap (please promise me that when you buy small appliances for your kitchen, you will buy quality ones – even if you have to save up for them) that every time I used it some new plastic piece broke off of it. $13 for a mini-chopper was not a good decision. Luckily, we pretty quickly invested in a basic Cuisinart and it saved the day.
I kind of got sick of hummus for a while, since we ate it all the time. Not to mention that, in all honestly, my hummus kind of sucked. Earlier this year, I bought a couple of tubs of Sabra hummus on a whim because they were buy one get one free. Suddenly I was buying hummus every week. Their roasted red pepper hummus is pretty good, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I really should be making this myself.
Saving Money?
The thing about making your hummus yourself is that, if you just compare the cost of making it yourself to buying a tub, well, no, you aren’t saving any money. But then, if you consider how much more hummus you get when you make it yourself, then yes, yes you are saving money. I knew my hummus recipe needed revamping, and when I saw a recipe from Milk Street Kitchen I jumped at the chance to try a different way…and it was perfect.
Hummus Tips
My perfect roasted red pepper hummus is not an exact replica of the recipe from Milk Street, but I did use some of the principles to develop this recipe. Here are a few of the things that I learned:
- Don’t buy tahini in a can. Please don’t. I did it for years and all it was good for was to waste a whole lot of tahini. I apologize if your mom owns the tahini-in-a-can company, but it just never worked for me. I could never get the oil to stir back down into the tahini. Plus, tahini is best stored in the fridge, so I like to microwave the tahini for a minute or so to get it flowing smoothly. Just spend an extra buck or two to buy jarred tahini.
- Liquid is good. There’s a pretty fair amount of liquid in this recipe, including the liquid that I drained from the chickpea can. Not to mention that the hummus will firm up in the fridge, so I stir a little water into it when we’re eating the leftovers too.
- It’s best at room temperature. If you’ve ever eaten hummus and declared that you hated it, consider whether that hummus was cold or room temperature. Much like the tahini, I give my refrigerated hummus a quick whirl in the microwave to warm it up and loosen it up a little bit. It makes a huge difference.
- Garnishes are a good thing. A swirl of olive oil, a sprinkle of cumin and paprika, a handful of reserved chickpeas and chopped red peppers….they all add flavor and textural variety that will make your hummus sing.
- Garlic? We don’t need no stinking garlic. I mean, if you want garlic, then you can certainly add it…but after making it without I don’t know that I’ll go back. You may not be able to scare off a vampire but this hummus is delicious without the garlic and you won’t be embarrassed to go into a meeting after eating this for lunch.
- Blend till you think you’ve over blended it, then blend some more. Seriously. Some bloggers tout removing the skin from the chickpeas to get super smooth hummus, but I’d much rather let my food processor do the work. Trust on this.
If you think you hate hummus, give this roasted red pepper hummus a try (or leave out the roasted red peppers if you aren’t a fan). You may just change your mind!
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Mary
Yield: 2 cups hummus
This recipe was adapted from a recipe from Milk Street Kitchen
10 minPrep Time:
10 minTotal Time:
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Ingredients
- 1 can reduced-sodium chickpeas, drained (liquid reserved)
- 3/4 cup tahini (warm or room temperature)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- juice of 2 lemons
- 1 roasted red pepper, chopped (see notes for directions on roasting a pepper, or use a jarred red pepper)
- olive oil, for garnish
- crudite, pita wedges, or crackers, for serving
Instructions
- Set aside 2 tablespoons of chickpeas. Place the remaining chickpeas in the food processor and process for 3 minutes, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl when needed.
- Add the tahini and salt and process for another minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Add 3/4 cup reserved chickpea liquid (this was all of the liquid from my can of chickpeas), the lemon juice, and the red peppers (set aside a tablespoon of the chopped red peppers for garnish). Process until perfectly smooth, one to two minutes. Taste and add additional salt if needed.
- Pour the hummus into a large, shallow bowl. Make a swirl in the bowl and add a drizzle of olive oil. Sprinkle the reserved hummus and red peppers on top. Serve immediately.
- Refrigerate leftover hummus for up to a week. To serve, microwave briefly warm slightly and add a bit of warm water to loosen up the mixture.
Notes
To roast your own red peppers, place an oven rack in the highest position and preheat the broiler. Slice the sides off of a red pepper. Place on a baking sheet and place under the broiler. Broil until blackened, watching closely. Place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap for 15 minutes. Remove and discard the blackened skin and chop the flesh.
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