Load your Hummus for National Hummus Day

Who knew that there was a whole day dedicated to hummus? On Saturday 13th May all lovers of the Middle Eastern dip will pay homage. This is a quick and easy way to pimp your hummus. It’s a great starter for any dinner party and can even work as the table centrepiece.

Homemade Hummus

(it’s perfectly acceptable to buy the hummus readymade!)

Ingredients

2 cans of chickpeas

½ cup of tahini

2-3 tbs Lemon juice

2 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp garlic salt

Rinse and dry the canned chickpeas. As you rub them between a tea towel to dry the skin peels away. Dispose of the skins and blend the chickpeas in a food processor for one minute, until powdery clumps are formed. Scrape down the sides and blend again until it’s a smooth, thick consistency.  Add the tahini, lemon juice and salt and blend. You can add 1 tablespoon of water at a time, whilst it’s blending, until it turns smooth, light and creamy. Add extra seasonings to taste.

Roasted Chickpeas

Ingredients

1 can of chickpeas

Olive oil

Salt & Pepper

Garlic salt

Za’atar

Paprika

Pre heat the oven 180C.

Rinse the canned chickpeas and place onto a tea towel. Roll them around until they are dry – this is very important! Empty them into an oven tray and cover with olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic salt, za’atar and paprika. Roast for 40 minutes. Allow them to cool before adding to the hummus.

Toppings

Ingredients

Parsley

Pomegranate

1 Red Onion

Toasted pine nuts

Paprika

Olive oil

Spread the hummus over a serving platter, leaving an indentation in the middle. Pour a generous amount of olive oil over the whole dish. Sprinkle paprika, pine nuts then add thinly sliced red onion. Tear off the leaves of the parsley and scatter across. Add the roasted chickpeas keep the excess to nibble on later. Lastly you can add the pomegranate seeds for a dash of colour. 

Serve with chopped carrots, sugar snap peas (or other vegetables) and pitta chips.