Wednesday 6 April 2011

Roasted red pepper houmous - ready in less than ten minutes

We don't really keep 'snacky' things in the house. I guess it's to do with the way I was raised - convenience and junk food at home were entirely foreign, the only way they entered was if you snuck them in.  

Instead, we had a pantry and fridge full of interesting ingredients, all of which needed combining and cooking to create something to eat. I hated it growing up but value it having been that way now. Not just because it's made me dislike junk but because it helped get me into cooking.

That said, when I got home from work this evening (feeling rather ravenous) and realised it was going to be a couple of hours until supper because Mathew was out, I regretted the lack of quick nibbles available to me.

Cue a quick dip made with store cupboard ingredients. This one was ready to be wolfed down (or savoured, whichever your appetite will allow) within just 10 minutes. Sure its not as fast as a bag of crisps, but it's tastier by miles.

Enough for several snacks or as a dip for a few people:
One can of chickpeas, drained
1 roasted red pepper from a jar - drained
One clove of garlic
A squeeze of lemon juice
Sea salt and black pepper
One tablespoon tahini paste (get it from delis, continental supermarkets or Sainsburys)
Pitta's to serve (I use the wheat free jobbies but the regular are great too)
100mls extra virgin olive oil and more for drizzling

I recommend using the best olive oil you can find because it makes all the difference. I like to use a DOP (the Italian protected status of origin mark) as the flavour I find to be fantastic and well worth the extra couple of £'s. I've tried dozens of extra virgin olive oils and if you want my view, the Sainsburys Taste the Difference Sicilian is exsquisite.

Method:
- Into a food processor place the chickpeas, garlic, tahini, red pepper and olive oil, a generous grind of black pepper and scrunch of sea salt and blitz until quite smooth (or as smooth as you like)
- Decant into a bowl and using the back of a knife poke holes into the houmous to create little pockets, then drizzle with more extra virgin olive oil so it pools in the wells, and give another scrunch of salt and black pepper
- Toast and cut up your pittas and then eat dipped into the tasty coral coloured houmous

6 comments:

  1. I think my upbringing was similar to yours. My mum never let us snack between meals and so I always envied my friends. Now I never buy snacks and my husband is always saying there's nothing to eat if he's hungry between meals, even when the fridge is full

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  2. We are the same Corina - I come home and find little cakes and other baked goods that Mathew has been eating instead of making something 'proper'!

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  3. Yum yum yum. I really like the look of this. I make one with butterbeans and chilli. I think it's the pink colour I'm addicted to... x

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  4. Well we eat first with our eyes and all that! This one has a nice coral colour to it - maybe we should try to bring about a 70's style multi-coloured dip movement x

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  5. I have just made this, but as we love our garlic, added an extra clove of smoked garlic too - delicious, thanks!

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  6. Ah Im really glad you liked it - yeah can imagine that smoked garlic would be excellent in it, I love that stuff too will give it a go, thanks for the tip! x

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