Wednesday, August 17, 2022

Parsley, Pumpkin and Beetroot Hummus: a superb trio of flavours and colours

 My kitchen has been humming this week, I've been making lots of hummus, using up excess parsley in our garden, and the rest of that large pumpkin I bought a couple of weeks ago. Remember those pumpkin scones I made just recently, well what with  pumpkin being such a versatile vegetable, it has now been mashed again and whizzed up and transformed into some very tasty and healthy hummus.

I nearly didn't manage to make any hummus at all, as my food processor stopped whizzing, actually it never started. The clicking attachment on the lid which secures it to the bowl broke, and I was sure that this time it had really bitten the dust. It had been repaired once before already. Mr. HRK walked in just as I was about to toss it out quite ceremoniously, and prepare for a shopping excursion to buy a new one, and then he confidently announced he could fix it. I really thought he had buckleys of repairing it again. Oh, ye of little faith. So my 30 year old food processor, perhaps I'm exaggerating but it is quite ancient, and was still working perfectly before it broke, was whizzed off to the man's shed. 2 hours later after much drilling, and toing and froing to the kitchen for testing purposes, the lid was fixed. There is now  a new metal piece inserted in the lid which clicks beautifully into the bowl and my workhorse of a food processor is now working even better than before. So it's had a complete clicking mechanism replacement. Good to go while the motor can keep running.

This photo is from a previous post I wrote, but the story is new.

I've been happily giving away lots of flat leaf parsley over the last few weeks, as we have been fortunate to have four large plants which are thriving. The secret to our success we think, is the  cow manure which Mr. HRK shovelled from the driveway of a friend's cattle property, liquefied it, and dug it into our garden in preparation for Winter planting. So I've also made a couple of batches of this parsley hummus and it is delicious, with a fresh vibrant green hue, the colour of life.

PARSLEY HUMMUS

Ingredients:

2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
2 cups well cooked chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 tblsp. good quality extra virgin olive oil
3 tblsp. reserved chickpea liquid or water
1 1/2 cup parsley leaves, packed down, not the stalks
1/2 tblsp. cumin powder
1 tblsp. tahini
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
Salt to taste

Method:

Place garlic in the food processor and process until chopped.
Add the chickpeas and grind them up before adding other ingredients.
Add the liquid ingredients and process until well mixed together.
Add the parsley and the remainder of the ingredients.

Add extra equal quantities of olive oil and water very slowly through the chute until the a nice spreadable consistency is achieved. It will start to flow around the bowl when it is the right consistency. Chickpeas that I have cooked myself often require additional liquid to be added. Taste it and add extra seasoning, lemon juice, or spice if you think it needs it.

Pumpkin and Parsley hummus were delicious on our cheese platter

PUMPKIN HUMMUS

Makes approximately 440 g or 2 cups

250 g (1 cup/9 oz) cooked and mashed pumpkin

400 g cooked chickpeas, or 1 tin of purchased chickpeas

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

3 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons hulled tahini

1 tablespoon chickpea cooking liquid or water

1 1/2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 1/2 teaspoons smoky paprika

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Method:

Place the chickpeas, garlic, lemon juice, water, and Olive oil in the food processor bowl, and process until smooth.

Add the remaining ingredients and process until smooth. Add more water or chickpea cooking liquid for a thinner consistency, and taste the mixture to see if more lemon juice is needed. 

I always taste the hummus after the final mix and sometimes add a little bit extra of a few ingredients to achieve the taste I like, but the quantities in this recipe are how we like it. 

Cooks notes:

  • Canned chickpeas purchased from the shop can be used, but for best results you will need to measure out 400 g of actual chickpeas, not just the contents of one 400 g can. Reserve the liquid from the tin to thin out the hummus if necessary.
  • To cook your chickpeas, cook 200 g (7 oz) dried chickpeas in lots of water with 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda for 30-40 minutes, or until tender, drain off the liquid for using later, and use.
  • I used mashed Kent pumpkin (Jap) for my hummus.
  • This pumpkin is using the last of my whole pumpkin which I bought from the farmer to make Pumpkin Scones during International Scone Week

BEETROOT HUMMUS

This hummus  has a sensational flavour and so much colour. I promise you it will bring pizzazz to your plate. I have revived my previous recipe for this post.

Ingredients:

450g freshly cooked, cooled, peeled and chopped beetroot, or tinned or bottled chopped beetroot
400g freshly cooked chickpeas, or  tinned chickpeas
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon tahini
1 tablespoon lemon juice (or 2 for more of a tang)
2-3 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Method:

Place the cooled and chopped beetroot, chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice and garlic in the food processor bowl and whizz up until thoroughly mixed to a paste.

Keep the motor running and slowly add the olive oil though the chute of the bowl. The mixture will thicken up and become smooth and start to develop some shape from the blades. Add a little more oil and lemon juice if it is still too thick.

Season with salt and pepper to your taste, mix again and spoon into your serving bowl.

Serve with warm sliced Turkish bread or Sourdough bread.

 I like to garnish mine with black and white sesame seeds and chopped parsley.

Add some pickled zucchini, in the background,  to the platter for extra oomph.

I'm posting this quickly before I start packing. Not my favourite activity, packing that is, but it's a means to an end and the thought of a road trip North has us excited. It's the perfect time of year to head to Far Northern Queensland, it's still much too cold further south for us tender Queenslanders. We'll leave that until later in the year.

Thanks for stopping by,

Warm wishes

Pauline






31 comments:

  1. I am not a big fan of beets, but your hummus is so pretty and has so many added flavors I am going to give it a try in the fall.

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    1. Thanks so much Anne, it looks attractive on the plate and tastes great too.

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  2. Very creamy and yummy! I like to flavour the hummus with fresh herbs too.

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    1. Angie, herbs give it so much flavour and colour. thankyou for dropping by.

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  3. Glad you managed to save your food processor! And really glad you made these delightful hummus recipes for us. Think I'd like the parsley the most, although I can never turn down beetroot. Ever. :-)

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    1. Thanks KR, they are all delicious, and it was so much less hassle not to have to buy a new food processor. Although a new appliance is always exciting.:)

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  4. Travel safely! I think I might have to make some parsley hummus this weekend. It is the only plant thriving in my garden right now as the puppy dug up the rest ;)

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    1. This recipe is such a great way to use up excess parsley. Hope you enjoy it Tandy.

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  5. i love hummus and usually have some in the fridge. this sounds great. Beetroot is always good in it. my food processor is definitely over 30 years and still going strong - touch wood!

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    1. Thanks Sherry, I think appliances and lots of things were made very well many years ago. We have become such a disposable society now. Take care.

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  6. Oh, these colors! Just beautiful.

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  7. Thanks Mimi, it's lovely to present them all at the same time.

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  8. Pauline, I love these versions of hummus! I must admit I'm normally not as creative and stick to the original version but I have a heap of parsley growing so I'll be making some this week!

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    1. Marcellina it's a wonderful way to use up excess herbs, pumpkin and so many things. Thanks for your lovely comment.

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  9. The platter looks yummy with the creamy hummus.

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  10. Many compliments to your husband for fixing the locking mechanism on that food processor! I wouldn't even know where to begin to install a new metal plate in there...impressive. And it looks like he was rewarded for his efforts with these batches of hummus, too. They look delicious! Now I know what you mean when you said you had some hummus in the fridge for those shawarma wraps! :-)

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  11. David I'm looking forward to the Shawarma wraps in Summer with different kinds of hummus:) My husband is quite the handyman, there's not much he can't fix. Thanks so much for your comment.

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  12. Thanks for sharing these yummy recipes Pauline. I shall be giving these a try - my beets are growing but not ready yet.
    Thank you for leaving me your sweet comments on my blog. Unfortunately blogger has removed the email notification button from my blog & I don't know how to notify people now when I've done a new post. I shall try to investigate a bit further. Enjoy your weekend. Julie xx

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  13. Thanks so much Julie. Everyone on Google blogger has lost that email button. I contacted follow.it, and they helped me install a new email function which is mostly working. I hope it works for you.

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  14. I live hummus, but never thought of all these variations.
    Thanks Pauline for the recipes.

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    1. Lovely to hear from you again Nil. The variations are probably endless really, thanks so much.

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  15. Wow! I love the variety of hummus that you made. It looks beautiful and delicious. Such a nice tray for guests to enjoy.

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    1. Thanks so much Judee, yes these variations of hummus are always popular as an entree.

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  16. Such beautiful colors - and the flavors are all so nicely complementary. Not being able to have garlic, any hummus made commercially is off limits to me - but your recipes -- especially the parsley -- are so delightful! (I do make a beet hummus and need to dig up my recipe to compare - you often add so many different flavors...) Thanks for these, Pauline -- happy weekend!

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    1. Thanks so much David for your very kind words. I am also amazed at how long the hummus stays fresh in the frig after making it. It is such a wonderful standby to have with drinks etc.

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