Olive Hummus

Most people have pantry staples that are standbys for a “just in case” situation. Cans of chickpeas and a jar of tahini are all permanent residents of mine. One of my favorite appetizer making pastimes is playing with hummus flavors. You’ve seen some of that here before on this blog. I don’t often post savory dishes but when I do it’s because the result was so good I had to share.

Clockwise from top left, Rainbow Carrot Hummus, Lemon Key Lime rosemary Hummus, Roasted Butternut Squash Hummus and Pecan Pesto Hummus.

Last Sunday I had back to back meetings all day for various organizations I volunteer for in Pennsylvania. The last gathering of the day I was hosting at my house and I had only arrived late the evening before.  The next morning, with little time to prepare refreshments, I had no choice but to perform one of my favorite kitchen songs, Hummus Time sung to the tune of  Hammer Time.

Catchy, no? One day I will print the lyrics here. Unfortunately, I wasn’t wearing the pants. That would have really rocked and I could have posted a video. Next time.

The great part about having the chickpeas and tahini on hand is adding whatever else you might have hanging around, spices, herbs, citrus, condiments, veggies, anything or any combination that strikes your fancy to give it a twist. Whip it all up together and you have an instant, very easy to prepare, and most times, impressive appetizer.

Leftover both black and green olives were eyeballing me back from the fridge so I threw them in the fo pro with the rest of the ingredients and added homemade rosemary olive oil (my herb garden was outta control last year and the result is tons of  homemade oils, sugars, syrups, and salts.) The result was perfect.

I made a double batch and brought the rest to work on Monday to a thumbs up all around.

Olive Hummus

 

Ingredients:

• 1 can of chickpeas*
• 2 heaping tablespoons of tahini
• 1/3 cup chopped black olives plus a few for garnish
• 1/3 cup chopped green olives plus a few for garnish
• 1/4 cup olive oil (I used rosemary infused but any will do) plus more for drizzling
• 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt (start with 1/2 teaspoon and then if it’s not enough for your taste, sprinkle in a bit at a time)

Directions:

• Place all the ingredients and about half of the oil in a food processor and blend.
• Drizzle in the rest of the oil while blending. You can use more oil if you like the hummus really smooth. I like mine somewhat chunky.
• When hummus is smooth transfer to a bowl, drizzle with olive oil and garnish with olives.
• Serve with crackers or pita bread.

*The hummus definitely comes our smoother, if you rub off and separate the transparent shells from the chickpeas. But if you are in a hurry or don’t have the patience, the result is still delicious.