Perfect Hummus

This recipe, my friends, is going to be the one to end them all. We have never made nor tasted a hummus as perfect as this. Will's discovery of this on Smitten Kitchen was food blog gold. When he first told me he was going to try a new hummus recipe and asked if I would assist in peeling all the chickpeas, you can imagine my reaction: hesitant, annoyed, but also curious. When he backed up his question informing me that it was from Smitten Kitchen, I realized he might be about to make something heavenly. I assisted with peeling all the chickpeas and in the end it was the right decision - that extra five minutes of my life was entirely worth it.




We don't often make recipes from Smitten Kitchen, but we both respect a lot of what she does. She's a humorous writer and her recipes are a lot of fun. We've tried her Spaetzle and Potato Latkes (which we actually just ate again this week) and enjoyed both. But this hummus may have made me more of a believer in the magic of Deb and her recipes. When someone instructs you to peel chickpeas and you follow through to discover why it's so important, you kind of change your perspective. Anyways, if you've never checked out Smitten Kitchen, I recommend you go look now if nothing else, to see her creative recipes (whether you ever try them or not). If you also want to hear Deb talk about her life as a food blogger, listen in here - this is how we first discovered one of the most-read cooking blogs that's out there! And trust both Deb and us - peel the damn chickpeas and recognize the beauty of this insanely perfect snack.



Cooking Notes: We didn't make the chickpeas from scratch and we didn't use fresh lemon juice. However, we had a ton of jalapeño's from our balcony garden, so Will deseeded one and tossed it in.

Perfect Hummus (adapted from Smitten Kitchen; serves 4-6)
15 oz. can of chickpeas, drained
1/2 cup fresh tahini paste (ours was from Trader Joe's)
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 small cloves garlic, roughly chopped
3/4 tsp salt + more, to taste
1/4 cup reserved chickpea cooking water (from can)
Optional: one jalapeño, deseeded
To serve: olive oil (drizzled), paprika or sumac, pita wedges or carrots sticks

Drain the chickpeas, reserving the water from inside the can. Peel the chickpeas as you place them in your food processor. The most effective way to do this is to squeeze a chickpea between your thumb and first two fingers, pointy end facing your palm, and it should pop right out. Discard the skin and place your naked chickpea in the processor. Blend the peeled chickpeas until a powdery mixture forms - about one minute - then scrape down the sides.

Add the tahini, lemon juice, garlic, (jalapeño), and salt, blending until pureed. With the machine running, drizzle in the reserved chickpea water 1 tbsp at a time, until you get the desired smooth, creamy light texture. Taste and adjust seasonings. Transfer to a bowl and rest in the fridge for a least 30 minutes (if you can resist!) then serve drizzled with a little olive oil and sprinkled with paprika or sumac. Serve with pita or carrots and enjoy!

Recipe: Smitten Kitchen: Ethereally Smooth Hummus