Restaurant-Style Hummus

I've been eating hummus for years. I didn't grow up eating it but rather got acquainted with it as an adult. Hummus is another one of those dishes that while convenient to buy at a store it is so much more flavorful if you make it homemade. 

The recipe itself doesn't call for a lot of ingredients, chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, olive oil and some salt and garlic. Again a food processor or blender makes preparation a cinch. This is another dish where a high quality olive oil makes all the difference. Since it is added to the hummus while blending and on top of the finished dip, the taste needs to be spot on. Canned chickpeas make this an easy and quick dish to put together. 

I've made this recipe many times and my choice of toppings vary, depending on what I have at home. I love it drizzled with olive oil and pine nuts sprinkled on top. I also enjoy it with roasted garlic. This time tough I went with a small jar of roasted red peppers that I chopped, seasoned and mixed with a bit of olive oil. 

We eat this with pita bread triangles but a lot of times my kids will also take this in their school lunch or eat it as an after school snack with Stacy's Pita Chips. This is also a great dish to bring to any potluck or picnic and even people who have never had it before seem to enjoy it.

Restaurant-Style Hummus

(Print this Recipe)

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup water

6 tablespoons tahini, stirred well

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling

1 (14 ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 small garlic clove, minced

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

Pinch of cayenne pepper

Topping (optional):

1 small jar of roasted red peppers, chopped

Salt, Pepper and Olive oil to taste

Directions:

Combine lemon juice and water in a small bowl or measuring cup. Whisk together tahini and 2 tablespoons oil in  second small bowl.

Process 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, scraping down bowl as needed.

Transfer hummus to serving bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let stand until flavors meld,  at least 30 minutes. Drizzle with olive oil, add topping if desired and serve.

Adapted from: Cook's Illustrated