Starting around Halloween, the food blogosphere turns into a pumpkin-fiesta, matching the phenomenon so common in grocery stores too: everything that can be made with a pumpkin flavor will be. Dog food? Yes. Potato chips? Yes, siree. Candles for your bathroom? Of course! Pumpkin Pie Vodka? You bet! It can be a bit much. But, now that the pumpkin fever has subsided a little, I feel it’s safe to come out and play. Let me share with you a pumpkin hummus that we enjoyed recently. I’d love to give credit to the source, but I have no idea where I got it from. I wrote down the ingredients in a piece of paper and ended up modifying it a bit for my own taste. Actually, if you google pumpkin hummus, you’ll find many versions out there, including this one from Sue’s site. She blogged about it just a few days ago, proving that great minds hummus alike.. 😉
PUMPKIN HUMMUS
(a variation from internet sources)
1 can chickpeas, drained and peeled
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup water
3 Tbsp tahini
1/2 cup canned unsweetened pumpkin puree
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cayenne pepper
drizzle of olive oil
Place chickpeas, lemon juice, water and tahini in food processor. Process until really smooth, let the machine run for a couple of minutes, scrape the sides of the bowl, process again. Add the pumpkin puree’ and seasonings. Process. With the motor running drizzle a little olive oil. Taste and add more lemon juice, cayenne pepper, and salt if needed.
ENJOY!
to print the recipe, click here
Hummus is a mandatory appetizer at our home. It doesn’t matter if we are having a dinner party for a few friends, or a departmental get-together to welcome a guest speaker, we always include this super versatile chickpea dip, either as the traditional type, or some fun variation. Making hummus from scratch is easy, and it adds a nice touch. This is a photo of the appetizer course of our first dinner party post-hellnovation. Everything ready, our friends were about to arrive, and we were in Kitchen Nirvana Land…
Apart from the pumpkin hummus, I made the batch of crackers you can see on the green plate: Cheddar and Fennel Seed Crackers, recipe to be featured soon in the Bewitching Kitchen. Think of a shortbread type concoction with a sharp, salty nature, and a very mild fennel taste.
Back to the hummus. My version has two modifications that deviate from most recipes around. First, it doesn’t take any garlic. Second, the amount of olive oil is minimal. When I savor hummus, I like the taste of chickpeas and tahini to be dominant, and that’s pretty hard to achieve if using raw garlic. So I omitted it. I suppose adding roasted garlic could be a nice alternative. In my handwritten note, I noticed that the original recipe called for 1/3 cup of olive oil. I added just a tablespoon, and still could detect the flavor of the oil, not too overpowering, but definitely present. One third of a cup would have ruined it for us. But, different folks, different strokes, you should modify this version as you see fit. Just don’t skip the pumpkin, ok? 😉
ONE YEAR AGO: Beetroot Sourdough for the Holidays
TWO YEARS AGO: Cod Filet with Mustard Tarragon Crust
THREE YEARS AGO: Soba Noodles: Light and Healthy
FOUR YEARS AGO: Potato-Rosemary Bread
Bewitching Kitchen 
Perfect timing, as I was storing yesterday’s grocery purchases, I moved a few things in the pantry to discover I still have 3 cans of pumpkin puree that I haven’t made any plans for–looks like next weekend’s family reunion will see some pumpkin hummus! Thanx for the inspiration! Your recipe looks perfect, and I agree raw garlic and pumpkin wouldn’t be a good combo!
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Wonderful idea!
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Thank you….
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Amazing how pumpkin puree cans can pop up in a pantry, from the depths of it… 😉
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What a great dip/spread for the holidays…I love this idea!
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Perfect for Thanksgiving, methinks… 😉
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This sounds devine!
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It was delicious, and got better the following couple of days – flavors mellowed down, very nicely
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Gorgeous table setting in your stunning new kitchen, Sally. It’s fitting for the delicious sounding hummus. We dislike the sharpness of raw garlic and peel and blanch for 60 seconds for any raw application. It’s not much time but it makes a big difference in both pesto and hummus. The original tip was in CI but it may have been a bit different.
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I remember your advice to blanch the garlic, good that you mentioned it again, I need to remember that WHEN I am using the garlic, but somehow it disappears from my mind 😉
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Wonderfully interesting recipe I have justed printed out ~ thanks! I always have hommus in the house, but have never prepared it with pumpkin. Trust me to be different: I rarely use butter and never margerine on my breads and pittas, but often substitute with hommus or dhal made from red lentils or various vegetable ‘pates’ conjured up or, of course, avocado etc. As I always have a savoury breakfast Northern European style [ie open sandwich with fillings up to the ceiling!] hommus fits in very nicely indeed 🙂 !
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I think hummus is my number one favorite dip/spread. It goes well with so many types of crackers and bread
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I love thinking of you in that sparkly newfangled kitchen of yours whipping up this pumpkin hummus. It sounds terrific and no wonder your friends love it so much.
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We are in heaven with this kitchen, it is so functional and nice, a real change from the original kitchen, which made us a bit depressed with all that darkness and the appliances that simply did not work… Renovations are hard to go through, but so worth it!
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I’ve never tried pumpkin hummus so this is one to put on the list for sure! The smoked paprika sounds lovely. I was just thinking of your warm ricotta recipe the other day… I think it may be time – I’m starting to feel the chill even here in CA (northern CA after all ;-)).
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You know. I’ve never made hummus before, Sally. I do enjoy it but I’ve just never taken the plunge. This one, with pumpkin, sure would be a hit with some of my friends. Maybe it’s time for me to change into my swimsuit. 🙂
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Pingback: Spicy Pumpkin Hummus « Keitochan Says:
I tend to throw so many cups of pureed vegetables (eggplant, red pepper, beets) into the hummus, I MUST make this one! I make roasted butternut squash all the time and could probably live on hummus. So this is a no brainer Sally! Thanks for sharing.
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