Red Pepper Hummus / Humous – Brands of tahini matter

Red Pepper Hummus / humous - brand of tahini makes a difference

by Azélia on 14/05/2010

in Beans / Grains,Vegan,Vegetables,Vegetarian

Do you know the reason I ended up making this?  Because it’s one of my favourite flavours of hummus I buy in the supermarket.  Simple recipe, open a tin of chickpeas, some tahini, throw them into the food processor with roasted peppers, squeeze of lemon, oil, garlic and salt and the machine does all the work…pretty simple isn’t it?  Well, it is in principal but if like me you start off in the unknown of how different brands of tahini can taste so different, then it’s not so simple.

I used a recipe from Veta’s Kitchen book as a starting point, she states 4 tablespoons of tahini and…oh boy…it was not what I was expecting.  All I could taste was tahini, it had overpowered everything else, there was no way the delicate taste of red pepper had a fighting chance to be allowed to the forefront.  Nope.  Red peppers were nowhere to be seen, ok, I could see their colour I just couldn’t taste them.  If I can’t taste them what’s the point?  This simple idea I thought would take a moment turned into making four different batches of red pepper hummus.

I knew about  light and dark tahini, hulled and unhulled sesame paste. What I was after for this recipe was a light tahini and I picked up a jar from my health food shop; organic Meridian light tahini.

The second batch of hummus I tried, I added less tahini and charred the peppers over a gas flame as in my post here.  I wanted to see if giving a smoked taste would enhance the pepper flavour but it didn’t.  In fact the red pepper flavour was stronger with roasting them.  Roasting the pepper, dehydrating it slightly gave it a better concentrated flavour.

By the time I came to make the third batch of the hummus I had bought a different make of tahini.  There I was in my little kitchen doing my taste test of a spoonful from each jar, by the way if you ever want anything to suck moisture out of your mouth, a teaspoon of tahini will do the job.  And then I went…aha…so it matters which tahini paste you use.

And here lay my answer.  My first jar (left, organic Meridian tahini) tasted much stronger with an unpleasant bitter aftertaste than the second jar (right bevelini tahini).  This second jar had an extremely smooth dark almost muddy looking colour but a more mellow less bitter taste.

How to roast peppers read my post here: How to char and roast bell peppers.

 

Red Pepper Hummus

* It comes down to the strength of your tahini jar to how much you use and obviously personal preference of how strong you like your hummus tasting of tahini.  My advice would be start with half a tablespoon of tahini blend and then add from there.

1 can of chickpeas
2 large red peppers roasted and skinned
light tahini *
1 lemon, juiced, add half the juice adding more towards the end to adjust
2-4 tablespoons of olive oil (not virgin as it’s too strong) or a bland vegetable oil
1 teaspoon of salt
1 crushed garlic clove, for a milder garlic roasted the garlic cloves

Put all of the above in a food processor and blend until the texture you like.

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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }

Twinkleberry May 14, 2010 at 2:35 pm

I LOVE Hummus and also make my own – using less rather than more tahini – I like it with caramelised onions too. Does it have a high calorie content if you make your own? I imagine the store bought ones would have more salt etc. Will be sure to give your red pepper one a try!

Azélia May 14, 2010 at 4:38 pm

Caramelised onions would be good sweet addtion…

calorie wise is high because of the tahini and it will contain some oil….even if you reduce those you still have the problem of carbohydrates which chickpeas and tahini are high on….eventually those transfers to sugars raising your insulin levels and any access not used by the body at the time will be store in different areas of your body mainly in your fat cells for later use…for the hunger period our ancestors use to face…essentially everything in large amounts makes you fat unless you want to live with just vegetables high in water content & roughage like broccoli and spinach etc…and how boring would life be then ;-)

I wouldn’t stop eating humous because of calories since the benefits outweigh the calories especially if eaten in reasonable amounts…and making it at home means you know what goes into it…I think my next batch will have herbs.

Foodycat May 15, 2010 at 7:12 pm

I agree – hummus makes me happy to eat my vegetables! I always use the hulled version, I think the brand is Cypressa. I’ll try this version next time I have a pepper.

Bron May 17, 2010 at 2:37 pm

Yum! Have you tried adding some toasted pine nuts or peanuts when you process it? Adds a whole other dimension.

Bonnie Lu May 17, 2010 at 5:03 pm

Oh I wish I read your post before I bought my first jar of tahini! Had no idea which one to go for and just bought the one that was on sale. Will try your recipe but will try and watch the tahini!

Azélia May 17, 2010 at 8:51 pm

hi Bron….nuts are a good addition…I like the hummus topped with toasted pine nuts.

Renée December 1, 2010 at 9:58 pm

You might just like this recipe, which is also made with red peppers – it’s so delicious!

Muhammara

Muhammara is a popular Middle Eastern dip made from peppers, walnuts, and pomegranate molasses. Delicious served with pita or crudités. For best results, make this recipe at least one day in advance.

2 1⁄2 lbs. red peppers
1–2 small hot chiles, such as fresno or hot Hungarian,
or substitute Turkish red pepper paste to taste
1 1⁄2 cup walnuts, coarsely ground (about 6 oz.)
1⁄2 cup crackers, crumbled
2 tbsp. pomegranate molasses or more to taste
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1⁄2 tsp. ground cumin
3⁄4 tsp. salt
1⁄2 tsp. sugar
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 tsp. toasted pine nuts or chopped, peeled, and unsalted
pistachios, a good pinch of ground cumin, and a flourish
of olive oil for garnish

1. Roast peppers and chiles either over coals or a gas burner or under an electric broiler, turning frequently until blackened and blistered all over, about 12 minutes. Place in a covered bowl to steam 10 minutes (this loosens the skin). Rub off skins; slit peppers open and remove stems, membranes, and seeds. Spread peppers, smooth side up, on a paper towel and let drain 10 minutes.

2. In a food processor, grind walnuts, crackers, pomegranate molasses, lemon juice, cumin, salt, and sugar until smooth. Add peppers; process until puréed and creamy. With the machine on, add olive oil in a thin stream. Add chiles to taste. (If the paste is too thick, thin with 1 or 2 tablespoons water.) Refrigerate overnight to allow the flavors to mellow.

3. When ready to serve, transfer the dip to a serving dish. Sprinkle with pine nuts or pistachios and cumin and drizzle with olive oil.

I made a smaller quantity.

Azélia December 2, 2010 at 4:46 pm

thanks Renée for the recipe.

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