Today I take you to the Middle East to introduce one of the most famous recipes: chickpea hummus.
I learned this recipe at a dinner at my cousin Andrea’s house; his wife Cinzia, whom you’ve already met as the source of many sweet recipes, served chickpea hummus as an appetizer for a meat fondue dinner.
I fell in love with it — the taste and flavor of this dish brings back many memories of holidays in Egypt. It is one of the oldest and most widespread preparations, thanks to the simplicity of its ingredients. The main ingredient is chickpeas, which are boiled and mashed until you obtain a smooth cream. For convenience I use ready-cooked chickpeas found in cans at the supermarket.
To puree the chickpeas you can use an hand blender. Chickpea hummus is a delicious, very flavorful cream, to be enjoyed with pita bread, flatbreads or crostini. Of course, other vegetables like tomatoes, eggplants, zucchini and cucumbers should not be missing. You can also serve it with carrot and celery sticks cut into thick strips to use as dippers.
Let yourself be won over by this very versatile dish, used to accompany falafel, or as a spreadable cream. Our chickpea hummus will disappear quickly during aperitifs or, if you prefer, as an appetizer for an oriental dinner! You can also serve sweet-and-sour baked fennel as an additional dish!
A soft cream that will conquer your family or guests!
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very inexpensive
- Preparation time: 3 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: No-cook
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons, Spring, Summer
- Energy 372.20 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 27.63 (g) of which sugars 1.82 (g)
- Proteins 13.27 (g)
- Fat 23.76 (g) of which saturated 2.73 (g)of which unsaturated 5.06 (g)
- Fibers 10.53 (g)
- Sodium 687.65 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 150 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients for chickpea hummus for 4 people:
- 21 oz (about 3 ø 15-oz cans, drained) canned chickpeas
- 2 tbsp cumin seeds (available at health food stores)
- 2/3 cup water (or the aquafaba from the canned chickpeas if using those)
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp tahini
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch curry
- 1 pinch black pepper
- to taste chives (or parsley)
- 1 clove garlic
- to taste lemon juice
Tools to prepare chickpea hummus
- 1 Blender / Mixer
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Spatula
- 1 Spoon
Preparation – Chickpea Hummus:
First of all, which type of chickpeas did you choose? Ready-cooked or fresh? If you chose fresh, start the recipe in advance: you will need to soak them for at least a couple of hours before boiling them in salted water (see the 2/3 cup of water in the ingredients list).
Once they are boiled and drained, reserving some of the cooking water, remove as many skins as possible by hand.
If you chose ready-cooked chickpeas, as I did, we can go straight to preparing the chickpea hummus by toasting the two tablespoons of cumin seeds in a non-stick pan.
In another pan pour the 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and lightly fry the garlic clove after peeling it; once the oil has taken on the garlic flavor, remove the garlic. If you used fresh chickpeas, try to remove as many skins as possible by hand.
In a bowl squeeze the lemon to extract the juice, add the two tablespoons of toasted cumin, the 2 tablespoons of tahini, the oil used to fry the garlic, a sprinkle of curry, then add salt and pepper. Mix everything.
Finally add the chickpeas after draining them well and, using a food processor, blend everything into a cream; it should be nice and thick.
Once the chickpea hummus is ready you can flavor it with fresh parsley, smoked paprika or chives, adding another drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
Serve it as an appetizer with crispy bread bruschette or crackers, or for a Middle Eastern themed dinner with slightly toasted pita or flatbread in the oven!
I can only wish you a buon appetito and remind you that I await you every day here in my kitchen with many easy, quick and delicious recipes like this one!
Storage:
You can store the chickpea hummus in the refrigerator, making sure to cover the surface well with extra virgin olive oil, for up to 2 days.
Variations:
As mentioned in the recipe explanation, you can use either fresh chickpeas to cook and clean well or the ready-cooked ones found at the market. Tahini is now easy to find thanks to the increased popularity of international cuisines; for the seeds you can turn to health food stores.
Other recipes:
I recommend serving chickpea hummus together with a nice chicken curry — what do you think?
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