Double capsicum hummus - red bell pepper & chili pepper hummus
Red bell pepper cooked in olive oil, along with the soft and smokey Urfa biber chili pepper, drive the flavor of this hummus. Prepare to spread!
Serves: a lot!
Preparation: 35 minutes, plus cooling time in the end
I love hummus. As far as I can remember, I’ve always enjoyed hummus spread on bread. It’s my comfort food during Summer. Spring and Fall, too. It’s great during Winter as well. I don’t remember when I first discovered hummus. Although I grew up close to the Mediterranean sea, I don’t recall eating hummus as a child — mum, please correct me if I’m wrong!
I like plain traditional hummus, though I consider it as a great base which can be enhanced with additional vegetables, herbs or spices. Once your hummus is prepared in the blender or mixer, it requires very little to be original or unique: fresh coriander, olives, basil, mint, chili pepper, tandoori spices, mango, … and all possible combinations of two or more of these. Sometimes I even drop in some lupins to team up with chickpeas. For the predent recipe, I’ve added two different capsicum variants: a common red bell pepper, and urfa biber chili pepper.
About urfa biber chili pepper
Urfa biber is a Turkish chili pepper, cultivated in the region of Urfa. I once mentioned this chili pepper I fancy to a Turkish colleague at work, and he told me Urfa’s cuisine was known to be hot, so he was not surprised I liked this chili pepper — I have the (accurate) reputation of enjoying hot and spicy food. I find this chili pepper to blend well into hummus, as it gives a light smokey flavor I love. I had ordered urfa biber from an online shop specialized in chili peppers, before their website went down. Fortunately, there are other online providers you can order this chili pepper from.
Ingredients
845 g of canned chick peas (gross weight, 520 g net weight without the liquid)
1 big yellow onion ~ 130 g
6 garlic cloves ~ 35 g
Half a lemon
3 soup spoons of tahini1 (I can offer no substitute for this ingredient, it makes a large part of what the hummus tastes)
Chili pepper (I used Urfa biber to give a soft and slightly smokey tone)
Olive oil
Salt
Preparation
As pictured above in Ingredients, there’s little to prepare. As a consequence, all necessary steps to prepare the ingredients and the hummus are listed below — there’s no Cooking section further down.
Peel and chop finely the yellow onion
Peel and chop finely the garlic
Open the red bell pepper with a knife, get rid of the seeds and white parts (called placenta, yes, it’s the term), then chop the bell pepper into pieces of approximately 1 cm
Peel the skin of the lemon to keep only its flesh (without its zest and rind)
Heat a deep pan or pot to medium flame/power
Add olive oil, onion, garlic, and red bell pepper
Stir regularly until onion pieces starts to become squishy and translucid
Drop the chickpeas and the liquid from the can into the pot, stir well
Increase the heat to bring the content to a boil
Cook for 10 minutes, stir occasionnally
Leave to cool down a bit if necessary (for example if you use a plastic-made robot mixer instead of a glass one)
Put the whole content of the pot into a mixer or blender; mix (or blend)
Add the lemon; mix (or blend)
Add the tahini; mix (or blend)
Add the chili pepper and salt to taste; mix (or blend)
Transfer into a sealable container; leave to cool before sealing, then refrigerate
Although you can start eating the hummus as soon as you’re done cooking it, it will be best enjoyed after cooling down, then refrigerated. Once it’s cold, I recommend you enjoy it spread on an unleavened flat bread such as matzo. This hummus can also be served along with a salad, or a dish containing bulgur or freekeh.
Enjoy!
If you’ve tried the recipe, and would like to comment - whether you loved it, or hated it - please do so. I’m welcoming ideas, even if these are non-vegan recipes I’ll have the challenge to “veganize”.
Here’s a tip before you go
I’ve long preferred dried chickpeas I was soaking overnight, then cooking. I’ve finally settled for canned chickpeas for three reasons:
I can jumpstart and prepare a hummus when I feel like to. This is the main con of using dried chickpeas: you need to soak them. With canned chickpeas, you obviously just have to open the can.
I prefer to save dried chickpeas for other recipes.
Canned chickpeas have a thinner skin, which makes them mix better.
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Be cautious: tahini is make of sesame, which is a know allergen