I had never made hummus before, and to be honest, I have only tasted it one or two times in my life. I enjoyed it but didn’t think much of it beyond that. When I saw this recipe for hummus in a recent issue of Cook’s Illustrated, I decided to make it along with my pita bread and see what all the fuss was about. At first, I thought it was just a pretty tasty dip but nothing that spectacular. But then I kept eating it…. and eating it…. and we polished off the whole bowl in a couple of days. So apparently I really like this hummus :-)
I have no comments on the recipe, as I pretty much followed it to a tee. Obviously, anything you make in the food processor is kind of hard to mess up. I am really looking forward to trying nearly all the variations listed in the article as well, such as artichoke-lemon hummus, hummus with smoked paprika, roasted garlic hummus, and roasted red pepper hummus. Yum!
Restaurant-Style Hummus
Ingredients:
3 tbsp. juice from 1-2 lemons
¼ cup water
6 tbsp. tahini, stirred well
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
1 (14 oz.) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 small garlic clove, minced or pressed through garlic press (about ½ tsp.)
½ tsp. table salt
¼ tsp. ground cumin
pinch of cayenne pepper
1 tbsp. minced fresh cilantro or parsley
Directions:
Combine lemon juice and water in a small bowl or measuring cup. Whisk together tahini and 2 tablespoons oil in second small bowl or measuring cup. Set aside 2 tablespoons chickpeas for garnish.
Process remaining chickpeas, garlic, salt, cumin and cayenne in food processor until almost fully ground, about 15 seconds. Scrape down bowl with rubber spatula With machine running, add lemon juice-water mixture in steady stream through food tube. Scrape down bowl and continue to process for 1 minute. With machine running, add oil-tahini mixture in steady stream through food tube, continue to process until hummus is smooth and creamy, about 15 seconds, scraping down bowl as needed.
Transfer hummus to serving bowl, sprinkle reserved chickpeas and cilantro over surface, cover with plastic wrap and let stand until flavors meld, at least 30 minutes. Drizzle with olive oil and serve.
Source: Cook’s Illustrated, May/June 2008.
