Roasted Garlic and Mushroom Hummus

 

Hummus is good food. Really, it is. It's good for you, tastes great and is a snap to make. That is if you have all the ingredients to hand, and I usually do. I think I've written about this before, but I like to keep some stuff on hand so I can throw together a quick appetizer or two, or just keep a can or three of say Black Olives, Garbanzo Beans, Pinto Beans, on hand. There are so many things you can make with a can of beans as the basis of a dish. Or a can of Black Olives. But I've posted about my Black Olive Tapenade before so you should have that recipe memorized by now. Last weekend I decided to make some Hummus for our monthly Tapa's night get together. I got out my can of Garbanzo Beans, took out the Tahini from the fridge, when I spotted the mushroom stems I'd saved from the Stuffed Mushrooms I made last week. A little light went on in my head and I got one of those AHA moments, and I thought I can brown those mushroom stems and puree them, and if I add them to the Hummus they will add a lovely earthy note to the hummus. I already had my garlic cloves in a pan with some olive oil (my quick and easy approach to roasted garlic), so I added the mushroom stems and let them cook over low, low heat with the garlic cloves until the garlic was softened and browned just a smidgen. Then I took the garlic out and browned the mushroom stems a little more.   Hint:   If you add a little more olive oil and let the garlic cook very slowly in the oil, you have some lovely garlic infused oil you can use for other stuff.   And if you happen to make too much garlic, just submerge that garlic in the oil in a little spice jar in the fridge for up to a month and use it in other recipes.

 While that was cooking I put the garbanzo beans or chick peas if you like the other name better,  in my handy dandy little hand operated food processor.    I actually got this many years ago to use while camping, and it is a wonder .   You can make salsa quick as can be in this.   And it did a great job of breaking up the beans and mushrooms.

 But it didn't get the beans as smooth as I wanted so I got out my little electric 2 cup processor and finished the Hummus in there.    The flavor was wonderful, but I outsmarted myself on the mushroom stems, I could not get them to process down as much as I wanted.   The Hummus was lumpy, well more fibrous.  Sigh.   So out came the sieve and I pressed the hummus through that and got my silky hummus.

I did say I would tell you about my triumphs as well as my failures.

Well, this wasn't a failure, but an interesting detour.   Mushroom stems are rather fibrous and don't process down all that well.   However, once I got the Hummus through the sieve, it was wonderful.

I served it with some Pita Crackers and some warmed Naan.

And it was yummy, silky, full flavoured and everyone ate it.   I only got one taste of it.    But that's OK, I have more beans in the cupboard, and I can make some later on and next time I'm not sharing.

Yield: 6Author: Sid's Sea Palm Cooking (inspired by many recipes)

Roasted Garlic and Mushroom Hummus

prep time: 10 MINScook time: 8 MINStotal time: 18 mins

This earthy rich hummus gets a lot of flavor from the slow roasted mushrooms.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 15 oz. can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed and peeled. Reserve the liquid.
• 2 tablespoons Tahini paste
• 2 cloves roasted garlic
• 1/2 cup browned mushrooms
• 2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Drain the garbanzo beans, reserving the liquid. Peel the garbanzo beans by rubbing the skin off, discard the skin. Brown the mushrooms in 1 tablespoon of olive oil, then add the garlic cloves, turning the heat down low. Let cook until the garlic is soft. Place the drained and peeled garbanzo beans into a food processor, add the tahini paste, 1 tablespoon olive oil, the mushrooms and garlic. Process to a smooth paste. If it appears too dry, add a little of the drained garbanzo bean liquid. Drizzle 1 teaspoon Olive oil over top. Serve with Naan or pita bread.

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