People always say hummus is so easy to make, why buy it at the store? But whenever I make hummus, it’s always a huge mess: tahini seems to end up all over everything. And it takes many spelt pita bread wedges and carrot sticks of taste-testing to get the hummus just right.
But it’s so worth it, because homemade hummus is really special. You can make it as lemony or garlicky or tahini-y as you want, and customize it with spices, herbs, and add-ons like olives or roasted hot red chilli paper as I did in this case.
But the ultimate kick the pants for any hummus recipe is my new favorite thing: Za’atar, a Middle Eastern condiment made from dried thyme, sumac, and sesame seeds. Za’atar is often consumed with pita bread and olive oil, but it’s also a great add-on to hummus and other foods. Look at all these great inventions I found:
- White Bean Salad with Za’atar [fatfreevegan.com]
- Baked Whole Wheat Flatbread with Za’atar and Olive Oil [kalynskitchen.com]
- Za’atar Popcorn [thekitchn.com]
Below are recipes for both hummus and za’atar, adapted from Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything Vegetarian
Enjoy!
Hummus
Adapted from Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 2 cups drained well-cooked or canned chickpeas, cooking liquid reserved if possible
- 1/4 cup tahini, or more to taste
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus oil for garnish
- 1 clove garlic, peeled, or more to taste
- Juice of 1 lemon, plus more as needed
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- paprika for garnish
- Chopped fresh parsley leaves for garnish
Method
- Put the chickpeas, tahini, oil, garlic, and lemon juice in a food processor (or a blender for even smoother hummus), sprinkle with salt and pepper, and begin to process; add chickpea-cooking liquid or water as needed to produce a smooth purée.
- Taste and adjust seasoning, adding more salt, pepper, or lemon juice as needed. Serve, drizzled with some olive oil and sprinkled with a bit of paprika or za’atar (below) and some parsley.
Za’atar
Adapted from Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup sesame seeds
- 2 tbsp dried thyme
- 2 tbsp sumac
- salt and pepper
Method
- Toast the sesame seeds then leave to cool.
- Combine everything else in a container and toss together. Presto! Your za’atar is done!
I love the za'atar in the hummus–great idea! I've been trying to think of ways to incorporate more za'atar/sumac into foods since I bought a big bag of sumac at Penzey's a few months ago. I'm due for some yummy hummus.
Waah!! Monica, you should frame this pic and hang on your kitchen wall. 🙂 Excellent and easy recipe and must try for me. Thank you! 🙂
Ah, yum. I've had an unbelievable craving for hummus lately, so this looks amazing!
Lovely photo Monica.
I now need to go and research the spelt pitta!
Thank you, helen. Do try the spelt pitas. @CarlLegge can vouch for them: check out the pic of the spelt pita's he made: spelt pitas on twitpic.
This looks so delicious! I can’t wait to make it! I’m always spending a ton of money buying hummus, and then I realized you can actually make it yourself 😀