Hummus (Houmous in British English) is an Arabic word meaning “chickpeas” and essentially it is made from chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice and garlic. We are very lucky in Brussels with the choice of Lebanese restaurants we have, the quality of their hummus is so good that we never have to resort to the supermarket kind.

I never used to make hummus, since I could get it so easily but last year I received the Yotam Ottolenghi’s book Jerusalem as a birthday present and tried their hummus recipe and found it to be better than anything I had to date.

I must admit I had to make a few changes in the recipe as I got more confident making it, like more lemon juice, less garlic, less tahini etc, so it would be fair to say this recipe is a variation on that Ottolenghi recipe, with the addition of roasted pumpkin.

This is a clear family favourite with any BBQ or grilled meat dinners we have. It is also a good choice for my vegan & vegetarian friends who are somewhat fed up with the plain chickpea hummus.

What you need:

• 250 grams (1 ¼) cups dried chickpeas or 400gr tinned chickpeas
• 400grams fresh pumpkin, deseed and cut into wedges
• 220 grams (1 cup) tahini paste
• 1 tsp baking soda
• Juice of one lemon (5 tbsp)
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 3 tsp salt
• 2 tsp pepper
• 2 tsp sweet chilli powder
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 1/2 litres of fresh water (room temp)
• 100ml (6-7 tbsp) ice-cold water

What you do:

The Pumpkin:

1. First thing is to preheat the oven to 180 degrees
2. Place the pumpkin wedges in an oven tray and season with half the salt, all pepper and all sweet chilli powder and olive oil
3. Place in the oven and cook for about 30 minutes or until golden
4. Once cooked, leave it to cool
5. Take the skin off the cooled pumpkin wedges, place the flesh in a bowl and set aside

The Chickpeas:

If using dried chickpeas, soak the chickpeas in a large bowl and cover them with cold water at least twice their volume. Leave to soak overnight. The next day, the chickpeas should be doubled in size

If using tinned you can simply open the tin and drain and wash the chickpeas

1. Place the chickpeas in a large saucepan
2. Add the baking soda and cook the chickpeas over high heat for about 3-4 minutes, stirring constantly.
3. Add the 1.5 litre of room temperature water and bring to a boil.
4. While cooking the chickpeas be sure to skim off any foam and any skins that float to the surface of the water.
5. The chickpeas will need to cook for about 30-40 minutes (dried) and 20-25 minutes (tinned)
6. Check at 30 minutes (dried) and 20 minute mark (tinned) to make sure they are tender and they break up easily when pressed between your fingers.
7. If they seem still a bit tough you can cook for a further 5-10 minutes or so. Just make sure they don’t go mushy.

The Hummus:

1. Place the drained the chickpeas in a food processor and process until you get a stiff paste
2. With the machine sill running, add the tahini paste, crushed garlic, lemon juice and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3. Now add the pumpkin and slowly drizzle in the ice water, 1 tbsp at a time and mix it for about 5-6 minutes
4. You should get a very smooth and creamy paste. If you feel it looks lumpy add another tbs of cold water
5. Once completed, transfer the hummus to a bowl of a container, cover it(lid or plastic wrap) and rest for at least of 30 minutes before serving

You can keep this hummus in the refrigerator for about 3-4 days, but be sure to take it out 30 minutes before serving

A plate of this hummus served with fresh pita, chopped olives and toasted pine nuts, fresh carrots, celery sticks and cucumbers makes for a perfect lunch or a side dish to any grilled meat dinner. I even serve it with cauliflower florets as a snack. It is simply delicious!

Enjoy!