Why haven’t I done this before? Making hummus is probably one of the easiest things I’ve ever done. The hardest part was finding tahini at the grocery store! This is a nice basic recipe, and you can really spice it up however you’d like. Some suggestions would be to add roasted red peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, avocado, horseradish, chili oil, artichokes, spinach – you pick! I like to serve hummus with pita chips, baby carrots, sliced cucumbers, pretzels, sliced red peppers, or toasted slices of bread. This recipe is adapted from Barefoot Contessa: how easy is that?, by Ina Garten.
Hummus, makes 2 cups
2 cups canned chickpeas, drained
1/3 cup tahini or sesame paste
4 teaspoons minced garlic (4 cloves)
6 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (3 lemons)
8 dashes Tabasco sauce (I added about 5 more dashes and thought it was just right)
2 teaspoons Kosher salt
Place the chickpeas, 2 tablespoons of the reserved liquid, the tahini, garlic, lemon juice, Tabasco, and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade and process until coarsely pureed. The hummus should be moist and thick; add more lemon juice if necessary. Cover and refrigerate for several hours for the flavors to blend. Taste for seasoning. If desired, you can top with paprika, or a flavor-infused oil, even toasted pinenuts are nice. Enjoy!
