A few days ago, while browsing the web, I couldn’t help commenting on a post by Antonella, a very talented photographer/blogger and a mentor for those of us who, like me, are trying to become good food bloggers. She had photographed an appetizing flatbread stuffed with chickpea hummus, radicchio and balsamic glaze. Hummus………………..I adore it! I would practically spread it everywhere, and that’s exactly what I told her. Among the various comments I suggested my favorite pairing, which I practically make at least once a week…..whole wheat focaccia with hummus and shrimp – pure delight! – and I was about to drop the link to my blog for the recipe but …..to my great dismay I realized it wasn’t there!!!! How is that possible!!!!!!! I always make it!!!!!! Well of course it’s possible: when I put it on the table I don’t think of photographing it, not a chance—my only thought is eating it. So as you can guess I went into action and this weekend I made the great sacrifice of preparing it to fill this huge gap. Enjoy reading.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 25 Minutes
- Cooking time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: about 20 crostini
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups (about 10.6 oz / 300 g) dry chickpeas (or about 600 g (≈21 oz, cooked/canned) chickpeas in a can)
- 3 1/2 tbsp (about 50 g) tahini
- 1 lemon (juice)
- 3 1/2 tbsp (about 50 g) extra virgin olive oil
- 1 clove Garlic
- to taste Salt
- 20 shrimp (medium size)
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 glass brandy
- 1 small bunch Parsley
- 1 clove Garlic
- to taste Salt
- to taste Chili pepper (optional)
- 20 pieces pieces of focaccia or whole wheat bread
Preparation
First, soak the dry chickpeas for 12 hours in twice their weight of water—in our case, that would be 600 ml (about 2 1/2 cups). After soaking, drain and rinse them and cook them in a pot with water until they are very soft (this will take about 2 hours).
Once cooked, drain them (reserve about a glass of the cooking water) and rinse under running water; you’ll see the small skins come off.
If you decided to use canned chickpeas instead, you can skip the previous soaking/cooking steps: simply drain them from their preserving liquid (reserve some of that liquid too) and begin the recipe from the next step.
Put the chickpeas in a food processor and blend, adding the tahini (now available in almost all supermarkets), the garlic, the olive oil, the lemon juice and the salt. The texture should be thick and smooth. If there are lumps you can add a little of the reserved cooking water or some of the liquid from the canned chickpeas to adjust the consistency.Clean the shrimp by removing the shell and the head, and devein them by making a small incision along the back to remove the dark vein. When all the shrimp are cleaned, take a large skillet and briefly sauté the garlic clove in the oil for a few seconds. Remove the garlic, add the shrimp and cook for 5 minutes. Splash with the brandy and let it evaporate, season with salt and add the parsley and chili pepper. Cook for another minute, then remove from heat.
Take the whole wheat focaccia (for the recipe click here Black 7-grain focaccia) or whole wheat bread – in this case toast lightly in the oven or in a toaster – and cut into squares about 3 cm per side (about 1 3/16 in). Spread two teaspoons of hummus on each (and feel free to add more if, like me, you are crazy about this sauce), top with the shrimp. Serve warm. Enjoy!!!
Notes
If you prefer, you can make tahini yourself. Put 100 g of sesame seeds (about 3.5 oz) in a nonstick pan and toast them over low heat for 2-3 minutes. Then transfer them to a food processor and pulse. After a few moments add, in a thin stream, 30 g of sesame oil (about 2 tbsp), a pinch of salt, 150 g of hot water (about 150 ml — roughly 2/3 cup) and continue blending. Your tahini will be ready.
