Hummus and pesto – tastes of summer

 

Two things I never buy are hummus and pesto. Why? Because supermarket hummus is a slushy gloop and pesto in a jar tastes of watery chemicals. Admittedly the stuff you buy in delis is usually good, but also expensive. Homemade versions outshine every time, and are so easy and cheap to make. Making your own also means you can adapt the flavours to suit your own tastes. 

It’s difficult to give exact measurements for these recipes – you will need to tinker to get the flavour and texture you want. The added bonus is that the dish will be unique each time you make it.

Give it a go – really, the hardest part is washing up the food processor. 

Hummus ingredients

• 1 can chickpeas, or equivalent cooked chickpeas.
• 1 small clove garlic, finely chopped. One of the cloves you find in the centre of a bulb is about the right size.
• 1 tablespoon tahini paste. There really is no need to explain what tahini is these days. If you can buy it in Sains, no need to explain.
• Juice of half a lemon.
• Olive or rapeseed oil and a little water, enough to make the hummus the consistency you like.
• Pinch paprika (optional).

A note on oil

What oil you use will greatly affect the flavour of your hummus. I like a subtle little kick to my hummus and so add a tiny amount of chilli oil (homemade of course) to the Spanish extra virgin olive oil I normally use.

This time, though, I used my new favourite ingredient – rapeseed oil. This produced a deliciously creamy hummus with a deep golden colour. It almost made up for the lack of sunshine outside on this soggy June day.

How to make hummus

1. Put the chickpeas, garlic and tahini, lemon juice and a large drizzle of oil into the food processor then switch it on.
2. When the mixture turns to a pulp, add a little water (or the juice from the chickpea tin/cooking juice) and process again.
3. With the motor running, slowly drizzle in more oil.
4. Stop and taste – season.
5. Add the paprika if using.
6. Switch on the processor again and continue drizzling in oil till you have the consistency and flavour you want – you may want to add more seasoning or lemon juice, or, if you think it’s too oily, add more water.

That’s it. It takes seconds.

And now you have a tasty snack in the fridge and a couple of free lunches.

Hummus for lunch

Hummus is great as a snack with raw veg such as carrots, sugar snaps and celery. Have you seen how much tiny tubs of these sell for in sandwich shops? Go on, whizz up some homemade stuff and take it to work – it will keep in the fridge for a few days in a plastic tub.

One of my favourite lunches is toasted pita bread spread with hummus and stuffed with salad. It even makes something as boring as lettuce and tomato taste interesting.

Hummus is actually quite filling, and so works well as part of a mezze with other salads or veg. Yesterday for lunch I had a green salad with a small amount of leftover roast chicken and toasted seeds, some homemade coleslaw and a dollop of hummus.

Or try some with a grilled lamb chop and green salad for your evening meal.

Pesto

Traditionally pesto is made with basil and pine nuts, but there are lots of variations, such as coriander and pine nuts, basil and cashew nuts, or rocket and walnuts. Here is the recipe for the traditional basil and pine nut pesto.

Pesto ingredients

• 1 handful pine nuts
• 1 large bunch basil
• 1 very small clove garlic, or half a normal clove
• 1 handful grated Parmesan
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Lemon juice, salt & pepper to taste

How to make pesto

I never fart around with the ‘bash using a pestle and mortar, slowly fold in the Parmesan’ school of pesto making.

Simply toast the pine nuts very lightly, rip the basil leaves a little, crush the clove of garlic, with the flat blade of a large knife, finely grate the Parmesan, and put the whole lot in the food processor, then add some olive oil and switch it on.

Turn off the motor, taste, and season with the lemon juice, salt and pepper.

Add more olive oil till the pesto is the consistency you like.

Done. Go on, Claire Ashtaker, give it a go.

What to do with pesto

Traditionally you use pesto as a light coating for pasta with a large surface area such as fusili or spaghetti. I like to stir it through some pasta then add smoked salmon or hot smoked trout with some cherry tomatoes. Roasted vegetables also work well. For a creamier (ie higher fat) version mix equal quantities (say 1 tablespoon) of pesto with mayonnaise.

But pesto works with any number of flavours and food types. Here are some of my favourites.

Fish

Spread some pesto over a fillet of white fish or salmon before oven-roasting for about 10 minutes at 190⁰C (the Magic Cooking Number).

Or poach the fish in water for 10 minutes and serve with a spoonful of pesto on the side.

Chicken

A dollop of pesto is a brilliant accompaniment to roast chicken, especially when served with roasted vegetables or salad and bread warm bread.

Mozzarella salad

For tomato and mozzarella salad you need to use really good tomatoes (or, as we used to call them, tomatoes). Flecked with pesto, a plate of white, red and deep green salad can sometimes be more inviting to the eye than it is to the palate.

Ripe, juicy peaches make a delightful partner to buffalo mozzarella, roughly torn into pieces. A little basil pesto on the side is just the saucy little wink this dish needs.

Stuffed peppers

It’s blazing hot weather, the Olympics start tomorrow, and I want an accompaniment for hot smoked trout and salad.

The idea of stuffed peppers probably draws a sigh from most vegetarians, but as a non-vegetarian I actually quite like this dish once in a while.

 

The recipe below assumes the dish is part of selection of salads.

Stuffed peppers ingredients

• 1 yellow or orange pepper. Go on then, use red if you insist.
• A handful of cooked Puy lentils
• Slightly larger quantity of cooked giant couscous
• An even larger quantity of cooked bulgur wheat
• 2 spring onions
• 1 small garlic clove, crushed
• A few chopped nuts – I used cashews today but pine nuts or mixed nuts would also work
• About 3 sundried tomatoes (optional), chopped into really very small pieces
• A few chopped herbs – I used a few thyme leaves tonight but oregano or Greek basil would also be good

How to make stuffed peppers

1. Finely shop the spring onions and lightly fry for a few minutes in a little olive oil till soft.
2. Add the crushed garlic clove and fry for another minute or so.
3. Mix together with all the other ingredients
4. Slice the peppers in half and remove the stalk and seeds
5. Fill the pepper halves with the stuffing
6. Bake for about half an hour to 40 minutes at the Magic Cooking Number (fan 190)