Butternut Squash Hummus
This was a “i messed up, how do i fix this?” recipe.
I had roasted some butternut squash for dinner, but the curry powder I put on it had too much cumin and too much cayenne. It wasn’t too bad, but there was a bitterness that hit you in the back of the mouth after a few seconds. I had originally planned to add some boiled/pureed potatoes to it, and then thin it down with cream and/or chicken broth until it gets soupy for a curried vegetable soup - but I saw some chickpeas in the pantry so I thought I’d try something different. Obviously if you were making this from scratch, you could just roast the squash and add it into your chickpea puree.
This recipe is approximate. Some people like more or less tahina, lemon juice, garlic, etc. I actually wish I had put a liiiitle less chickpeas so I could taste the squash more, but oh well. It was still good.
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Butternut Squash Hummus
1 cup butternut squash puree
2 cups canned chickpeas (about one can)
about 1/3 cup plus a little more tahini paste
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 or 2/3 cup water - as much as you need for it to be as thin as you want
1/3 cup lemon juice, or more to taste
a couple of cloves of garlic
salt, pepper, paprika to taste
Whirl it all up in a food processor until smooth. Add more tahini or seasonings for flavor or water to make it as thin as you desire. Tahini has kind of a peanut buttery taste to it, but I wouldn’t suggest you substitute peanut butter here, as I’ve seen some recipes do. I put good olive oil in to make it rich, but I used more water to thin it because I didn’t want it to be too oily (especially because you usually drizzle more olive oil on top when serving).
The traditional way to serve it is as follows: In a slightly deep dish, maybe a pie pan or a plate with a bit of curve to it, spread a thick layer of hummus all around with the back of a spoon. Then, use the back of the spoon to make a circular channel in the middle of the plate. Think of it as creating a moat - leave a small island of hummus in the middle and make a channel around it. Pour olive oil into the channel. In the “island,” put a few chickpeas or an olive. Lightly sprinkle some paprika or cayenne or sumak spice onto the whole thing. Serve with pita bread!
Other serving suggestions: Hummus is great as a vegetable dip or spread onto a sandwich or wrap. Try these Butternut Squash Hummus Quesadillas. It’s also delicious spread onto a pita, then topped with sauteed spinach and mushrooms, then cheese.