This recipe is from Christine Manfield’s fabulous global cookbook, Fire*. I’ve tried so many hummus recipes and this one just nailed it for me. The first time I made it, I served it in a huge bowl drizzled with chilli olive oil (see Skye Gyngell’s Fresh Chilli Oil) at a Christmas drinks party and basked in praise for days afterwards as guests contacted me for the recipe. I often make it when I’m doing tastings in shops that sell our Nolans Road products and it’s always a thrill to see people who’d always thought chickpeas were too hard to prepare, are suddenly converted. Thanks Christine! Dee Nolan
My Hummus, from Christine Manfield
Ingredients 300g dried chickpeas…100ml tahini…4 cloves garlic, minced…60ml fresh lemon juice, strained…2 tsp salt… 1 tsp ground cumin…100ml extra virgin olive oil…1/2 tsp chilli oil…2 tsp shredded parsley leaves
Method Soak the chickpeas overnight in twice their volume of cold water. Drain and inspect for any little stones. Cover well with fresh cold water, bring to the boil and simmer until tender - approx. 30 mins to 1 hour.
Drain, reserving some cooking liquid. Keep 2 tbsp whole chickpeas for serving. Place the remaining chickpeas in a food processor with the tahini, garlic, lemon juice and cumin and blend until smooth. The paste will be quite thick so add just enough of the cooking liquid to soften, then slowly drizzle in the oil. Adjust seasoning to taste.
Spoon the hummus onto a plate. Scatter the whole chickpeas over the top, then drizzle with the chilli oil and shredded parsley. Best served at room temperature.
*Reproduced from Christine Manfield FIRE, A World Of Flavour, published by Lantern, an imprint of Penguin Books