Hummus bi Tahini

Hummus bi Tahini

Hummus is a Middle-Eastern spread or dip made with cooked ground chickpeas and tahini, olive oil, lemon juice and salt.  Hummus comes from an Arabic word for chickpeas.  As an appetizer, hummus is served with flatbread, such as pita. It is also served as part of a meze or as an accompaniment to falafel, grilled chicken, fish or eggplant.  Garnishes include chopped tomato, cucumber, coriander, parsley, caramelized onions, sautéed mushrooms, whole chickpeas, olive oil, paprika, olives, or pine nuts.

Onions:
  • 1/4 medium onion, thickly sliced
  • olive oil, EV, as needed
  • salt, coarse, as needed
  • pepper, black, as needed
Hummus:
  • 1/2 cup large sun-dried tomatoes, rough chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, smashed and rough chopped
  • 1 medium shallots, thickly sliced
  • 4 leaves basil
  • 1/3 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/3 cup olive oil, EV
  • 1 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1 cups Chickpea Confit, drained
Char the Onions:
  1. Lightly coat the onion slices with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
  2. In a cast-iron skillet, or on a grill, cook the slices until tender and lightly charred.
Make the Hummus:
  1. In a food processor, combine the onion, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, shallots, basil, and cumin.
  2. Pulse into a chunky purée.
  3. With the motor running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil, then the lemon juice.
  4. The mixture should be quite smooth.
  5. Transfer to a large bowl and add the Chickpea Confit.
  6. Fold together to blend.
  7. Return to the food processor in batches, and purée until the mixture is smooth and thick.
  8. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
  9. Add more or less olive oil to achieve the desired consistency of creamy peanut butter.