Hummus
Fluffy, creamy, airy, and smooth: the perfect hummus for every occasion.
The fluffiest hummus topped with sea salt, good olive oil, and za’atar. Served with Persian cucumbers for dipping.
Cooking your own chickpeas and using their cooking liquid, called aquafaba, makes all the difference in this recipe. By cooking your own beans, you can control how soft and creamy they get and that translates to creamier hummus. I recommend you cook the beans for at least eight hours if you follow the recipe below. Plus, cooking your own beans produces magical aquafaba. This protein-rich liquid can be used as an egg white substitute in many recipes from mayonnaise to meringues. Here, those extra proteins help form a fluffy texture for this hummus.
This is the fluffiest hummus I have ever made. Well, just after Deb’s Ethereally Smooth Hummus that calls for peeling each and every garbanzo bean. It’s not too much work, but it’s too much work for me most days. I would recommend trying it at least once when you’re feeling fancy. It is very very smooth. You can use her technique with this recipe by peeling the garbanzo beans before you add them to the food processor. The skins slip off easily with a pinch.
This hummus can be eaten as-is or topped. My favorite topping is a sprinkle of salt, a generous glug of good olive oil, and my house blend of za’atar.
Starting in the middle, lightly press the back of a spoon into the hummus. Spin the bowl as you slowly drag the spoon toward the edge of the bowl, creating a spiral. This creates lots of ridges to catch any toppings, like olive oil, you might add to the hummus.
Hummus
Serves 4-6 for a snack/light lunch when served with cut veggies
4 cups cooked chickpeas; see cooking dried beans recipe, cooked for 8 hours
2 cloves garlic; you can use up to 4 for a more garlic-forward hummus
1½ lemons; juiced, about 5-7 tablespoons
1 cup tahini; use a spoon to stir oil back into the solids before measuring
¾ cup chickpea cooking liquid; can substitute water, if necessary, but the liquid is best
Food processor
Spatula
Metal mesh strainer
Bowl
Strain chickpeas over a bowl to catch their liquid.
Blitz the garlic in the food processor until minced. Scrape the sides and add lemon juice. Allow to sit for a few moments to tame the bite of the garlic. Add chickpea liquid and tahini. Process until creamy, about 2 minutes, pausing a couple times to scrape the sides and bottom so that all of the tahini is fully incorporated. Add more liquid if the mixture is clumpy. The liquid will be light in color and creamy when ready.
Add chickpeas and process for 2 minutes until smooth. The texture should be smooth and very dipable. It should glop off the spatula. If it is runnier or you would prefer a thicker hummus for sandwiches and wraps, add more chickpeas and process again for 1-2 minutes. The hummus should be salty enough from the salted cooking liquid, but you can add more salt here if you wish.
Garlic, lemon, and tahini. Blended until creamy and light in color.
Fully blended hummus. For an even smoother version, consider peeling the garbanzo beans.
Have I told you how much I love tahini? I checked the cost per ounce of each type of tahini and this was the best deal. Just check the expiration date to make sure you can use it all before it expires. And have a looooong spoon ready to stir the oil back in.
