Warm Mushroom Hummus

Hummus. 
I love hummus!! It's amazing that a can of chickpeas can be turned into something so luxurious.
"Hummus" comes from the Arabic word meaning chickpeas. Served hot from the oven, this traditional Middle Eastern dip becomes even more delicious. (Don't be eating any of that fridge cold hummus....just don't...... )

For this recipe, I made my standard hummus, then garnished it with olive oil, garlicky mushrooms & parsley. It's sooo good served hot with toasty baguette. I like to round it out with a little dish of olives and fresh veggies for dipping. If I'm making a bigger spread of food I'll plate up some grilled and sliced veggie sausages, and my recipe for Baklazhan. (A delicious tomato, pepper & eggplant dip)

Sometimes I make my own tahini to use in the recipe.
The flavour is awesome, but I use store bought stuff too. It is simple. Toasted sesame seeds blended with a neutral veg oil. It turns into a smooth creamy butter. So good. You can make the tahini in your food processor, put it in a jar, then continue on making hummus without washing the food processor in between. Couldn't be more simple.  

Recipes

Tahini

Ingredients

• 1 cup sesame seeds, toasted in a pan
• 4 - 6 tbsp neutral tasting oil (I used sunflower)
• pinch of salt

Method

1. Using a food processor, process toasted sesame seeds. Add 1 tablespoon of oil at a time until you have a consistency similar to natural peanut butter.  Refrigerate.

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Hummus

Ingredients

• 1 x 540 ml can Chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup water
• 3 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/3 cup tahini
• salt and pepper​

Method

1.  Start by adding chickpeas to food processor, blitz and scrape down sides.
2. Add garlic and blitz to combine.
3. Add remaining ingredients and puree mixture scraping down the sides a couple of times. I really let my food processor do some work here to make the hummus as creamy and smooth as possible. 
4. Transfer to an oven safe dish. Cover with foil and heat in 350 F oven while you prepare the mushrooms. You can also microwave hummus with great results                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Mushrooms

Ingredients

• 12 oz button mushrooms (or any mixture of mushrooms, I use button because they are affordable and still really tasty)
• 3 cloves garlic
• splash of vermouth or white wine. (I could see myself using brandy here if I had any)
• 1/2 tsp soy sauce (optional)
• squeeze lemon
• salt and pepper

Method

1. ​Get your pan nice and hot, add a couple drizzles of veg oil & then add your mushrooms. You want gorgeous caramelized shrooms, so make sure your pan is hot before they go in. Stir occasionally but keep in mind not stirring gives the part of mushroom touching the pan time to turn golden brown. So don't be too stir happy, either. 
2. Sautee for about 5 min then add chopped garlic and stir around for a couple more minutes. (you might need to add a bit more oil to the pan) Season with S + P 
3. Deglaze the pan with a splash of booze. Add soy sauce if desired. 
4. Taste and season mushrooms with squeeze of lemon juice and more S & P until you think it tastes good. 
5. Top hot hummus with mushrooms, olive oil and chopped parsley. (thyme or rosemary would be lovely, too)