- Makes equivalents of 8 medium-sized tubs of hummus - Ready in 2 hours 30 min -
Yippee! No more plastic pots of hummus and no more food waste from half-eaten tubs of hummus. I never got on with the 'no cook' hummus recipes as uncooked chickpeas disagree with me - so I developed this one which uses a slow cooker to stop the risk of chickpeas burning onto the base of a pan.
This very pink twist on the hummus recipe requires you to freshly cook 4 beetroot (don't use vacuum packed beetroot unless you plan to eat it all on the day of making and if you do choose pre-packed beetroot, choose a posh version as it will taste much nicer than the basic version). I use a pressure cooker to cook fresh beetroot - I top 'n' tail the beetroot, quarter it, sit the beetroot pieces on the metal trivet in the pressure cooker, add 2 cm of freshly boiled water, tighten the lid, heat on a medium hob flame for 10 minutes until up to pressure and then turn the flame to quite low and continue to heat for a further 10 minutes. I then leave the pressure cooker to cool naturally (or you could run cold water over it) until it de-pressurises.
Gather together...
3 cans of chickpeas.
750ml just-boiled water.
750g (4 medium) beetroot - cut into quarters and freshly cooked (see above for pressure cooker instructions).
240ml oil (rapeseed oil or olive oil).
3 garlic cloves (peeler and finely chopped).
2 lemons (zest and juice) - 4 tbsp juice and 2 tbsp of zest for those who are using leftover-frozen lemons.
2 tbsp peanut butter - can be smooth or chunky (without palm oil if possible).
1 tsp Marmite.
3 tbsp of the hot cooking liquid.
To serve...
Plain yoghurt to rehydrate the frozen-then-thawed hummus (vegan yoghurt could be used for those wanting a dairy free option, such as 'COYO' delivered by companies like Abel&Cole and Ocado).
Get cooking…
1. Boil an almost-full kettle of water.
2. Drain and rinse the 3 cans of chickpeas, using a sieve held under running water. Tip the chickpeas into the ceramic dish of the slow cooker and add 750ml of freshly boiled water.
3. Set the slow cooker to HIGH and cook the chickpeas for 2 hours. If you don't have a slow cooker, use a large pan simmering on the hob, which has an insert (such as an Ikea pan with a STABIL insert in) to stop the chickpeas burning onto the base of the pan.
4. Once the cooking time is up, turn off the slow cooker and carefully drain the hot cooking liquid into a separate bowl (you'll need to add some of this cooking liquid to your mixture shortly).
5. To the drained chickpeas (still in the slow cooker ceramic bowl to save on washing up) add the 4 cooked beetroot (in quarters), the 240ml oil, the 3 garlic cloves (peeled and finely chopped), the juice and zest of two lemons , the 2 tbsp of peanut butter, the 1 tsp of marmite and the 3 tbsp of the hot cooking liquid (which you drained into a bowl previously- or just use boiling water if you accidentally tipped it away!)
6. Whizz the ingredients together with a stick blender for 2 minutes until really smooth (or do it in about three batches in a food processor, but it will be mess to clean up!). It will look dry (which is fine) as the yoghurt will be added before serving.
7(a). EITHER: The hummus can be cooled and eaten now (with 12 spoonfuls of plain yoghurt added to the full batch to rehydrate it). If you do choose not to freeze any (for example, if you need lots for a party of people) then keep the hummus refrigerated and in a sealed container, and eat it all up within 3 days.
7(b). OR: To freeze the hummus (WITHOUT adding the yoghurt yet), put large spoonfuls of the COOLED mixture (equivalent to a couple of generous heaped tbsp) into muffin tray holes, I use two muffin tins - totalling 12 holes. Or use smaller-hole bun tins and defrost more than one frozen portion each time.
8. Put the filled muffin trays / bun tins in the freezer for at least 2 hours (don't worry, the blocks of frozen hummus will come out easily).
9. Once well frozen, use a spoon to ease the frozen portions of hummus out of the tins and keep them in a large freezer-safe airtight container in the freezer.
10. To use, defrost a portion of hummus in the microwave for 3 minutes on medium-low (or in the fridge for 24 hours).
11. Before serving, add 1 generous tbsp of yoghut to a muffin-sized portion (1 tsp for a bun-tin sized portion) and stir thoroughly.
12. Enjoy! The frozen hummus will be at its best in the freezer for up to 3 months.