Nonna Lizzie’s Israeli Hummus
(GF/VG/VE)
Fluffy, velvet, creamy hummus.
Hummus brings people together, sparks conversation and it’s easy to eat . It’s the perfect mezze.
My love affair with hummus began with a spontaneous trip to Israel in 2016. I remember every place from street corner stalls, restaurants to hidden cafes in Jerusalem serving delicious smooth hummus with their own twist.
Since then, I’ve experimented to make my own version. To me, home-made hummus is like fresh pancakes. Nostalgic and instant mood lifter, enjoy!
Ingredients
1 can of chickpeas
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup tahini
1/4 cup water
1/2 lemon (juiced)
4 garlic cloves
Toppings Options:
Paprika toasted pine nuts with fresh parsley
Za’atar, cumin and fennel seeds.
Method
1. REMOVE skin from chickpeas: Boil in a pan with hot water for 10 minutes. The chickpeas will soften and the skins will start to fall off. Move to a bowl to cool and remove the remaining skins.
2. BLEND tahini, lemon squeeze, olive oil, water and garlic. You want to get a creamy velvety texture.
3. ADD chickpeas and blend again.
4. TASTE the mixture. You can see if you want to add anything else eg. add more lemon if it’s too dry, or more garlic if it’s bland, or little bit more water and olive oil if it’s too thick.
5. TOPPINGS: My go-to is to lightly toast a handful of pine nuts in a pan with little bit of olive oil and paprika (5 mins max). Another version I like is to just add a sprinkle of za’atar, cumin and fennel seeds.
Tips
Peeling the chickpea skins off is a must! It makes it a whole lot smoother. If you don’t have time to boil them you can just soak the chickpeas in water and manually take the skins off.
Tahini is quite thick, you can mix in a little bit of
Always have some extra lemon squeeze at hand. Hummus can be quite heavy and dry, lemon squeeze and olive oil will help make it creamier.
You can experiment by adding more or less garlic. I would start with 1-2 cloves, I’m a little obsessed and added 4. It gives it a bit more of a kick!
For two people, this Hummus lasted us 2 days. If you want to refrigerate it consume within 4 days.
