Roasted red pepper hummus

I love hummus and I love it even more when it’s flavoured with roasted vegetables. Red pepper is one of my favourite combinations as I think it really compliments the hummus, bringing a sweet and slightly smokey note from the charring. Make some at the beginning of the week and your future self will be thanking you every lunchtime. Well, may be not every, but quite a few ;-)

Ingredients

Serves 4-6

• 1 tin 400g chickpeas - drain well, reserve a little of the water

• 1 red pepper, from a jar or roasted if you prefer - pat dry with kitchen roll

• 2 tbsp tahini

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• 1 small clove of garlic

• 1 tbsp lemon juice

• ¾ tsp sea salt

• Optional: crumbled feta & a sprinkle of paprika, crudités to serve.

Method

• Put all the ingredients into a food processor and blitz to a smooth paste. If the hummus is too thick you can add a spoon of aquafaba (chickpea water) to loosen.

• Serve with crudités, homemade tortilla chips, crackers, wraps, baked potato or sourdough toast with feta and roasted pumpkin/sunflower seed on top.

Sweet potato hummus with homemade tortilla chips

Having a tub of homemade hummus in the fridge is really handy for making lots of different tasty lunches or dinners through the week. It’s simple to make and a great source of plant-based protein. My daughter is vegetarian and up until now as refused to eat hummus, but I added some to her wrap yesterday with fried red onion, sweetcorn and halloumi (pictured below) - she loved it! Major break-through as I want to expand her range of veggie protein sources. I had some with a baked potato, feta and a quickly thrown together salad, which was also lovely; but there are so many ways you can use hummus to make dishes more interesting. I’ve listed a few in the Tips section below.

Ingredients

• 1 large sweet potato (500g raw unpeeled)

• 1 x 400g tin chickpeas, drained & liquid reserved

• 1 clove garlic

• 1 ½ tbsp lemon juice

• 2 tbsp tahini

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• 1 tsp pimentón (or paprika)

• 1 tsp sea salt

• 4 tbsp aquafaba (chick pea water)

Method

• Preheat the oven to 180ºc, put the potato on a tray and bake for about 50 minutes. Test with a knife to make sure it is soft all the way through before cutting in half, mashing and allowing to fully cool (I put mine in the freezer to speed it up).

• Put all the other ingredients in a food processor and blitz until really smooth.

• Next add in the cooled sweet potato and blitz thoroughly.

Tip

• Bake the sweet potato a day or two before you make the hummus, so it takes you even less time to prep. If you’re making dinner and have the oven on, then put the potato in as well. Save time and electricity! Just store the cooked potato (unpeeled) in the fridge over night and bring up to room temp, if possible, before adding to the hummus mix.

• Serve with homemade tortilla chips, wraps, baked potato, crudités, grain or rice salad, roasted veggies… the list is endless if you’re a hummus fan!

Hummus

I think making houmous is a bit like homemade pesto. It's all a bit imprecise and down to personal taste. You can tweak both recipes to suit your tastes and there is no right, or wrong end result (within reason!), but here is my version.

Ingredients

Serves 6-8 as part of a mezze

• 1 x 400g tin chickpeas

• 1/2 clove garlic, minced

• 1 tsp fine sea salt

• 5 tbsp tahini

• juice of 2 lemons

• To finish: parsley, sprinkle of paprika, coriander, olive oil

Method

• This could not be more straightforward: place all the ingredients into a blender and whizz up until a smooth paste!

• Decorate to look pretty once the hummus is in a bowl.

• Serve with homemade pittas, crudités, or as part of a Moroccan feast.