I popped into my local greengrocers the other day. When passing I always take a moment to look around and get inspired by the different fruits and veggies. Once I had spotted the smoked garlic, the unwaxed lemons and the beautiful Romano peppers I felt a hummus dish was on the menu so grabbed a purple cauliflower too for dipping and a few cans of chickpeas.
We are so lucky to have such shops on our doorstep here in Sussex. Let’s be sure to use small businesses so they can remain open!
Serves 6-8
Ingredients
· 3 large Romano red peppers, seeds removed and halved
· ½ teaspoon Aleppo pepper
· 2-3 tsp olive oil
· ½ teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
· 1 small shallot style onion, finely chopped
· 1 x 400g/14oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed well
· 2 smoked garlic cloves, crushed
· ½ small – medium unwaxed lemon, juice and zest finely grated
· ½ tsp Himalayan sea salt
· freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Method
Bake the Romano peppers (180 C) on a medium heat for 15-20 minutes or until soft and tender.
Meanwhile heat a little olive oil in a small frying pan. Add the chopped onion and fry over a medium heat for five minutes, or until softened, stirring occasionally. Leave to cool for five minutes.
When the peppers are cool enough to handle chop roughly removing seeds and the stalk. Peel off any burnt parts of the skin and discard.
Scoop the spiced onion into the bowl of a food processor with the pepper flesh, rosemary and Aleppo pepper plus any juices from the bottom of the bowl. Then add the chickpeas, garlic, lemon juice and zest. Blitz the mixture until smooth, stopping to push down any escaping chickpeas with a spatula. You may need to add a couple of spoonfuls of extra olive oil to create a smoother hummus. Add the salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste.
Spoon the dip into a serving dish and serve as a dip for carrot sticks, cucumber or hot flatbreads. For a more diverse and brightly coloured option add lightly baked purple cauliflower. I tossed mine in lemon juice, olive oil and Himalayan sea-salt before baking.
Hummus can be stored in the fridge and eaten within three days.