For my first post this Plastic-Free July, I’ve decided I’ll share with you how I make hummus from scratch. This is something I’m doing about once a week these days, as my little boy is OBSESSED with it! He’s not really talking yet, so he just squeals and points to indicate that me spreading the hummus on toast is just slowing him down and he wants me to give it to him by the spoonful! …which I don’t mind doing because it’s so healthy for him. I’m actually happy he’s eating a jar a week 🙂 .
It all begins with me soaking and pressure-cooking the chickpeas. Yes, I really do make my hummus from scratch! We stopped buying tinned foods about a year and a half ago, when I learned about the epoxy lining on the inside of cans and why BP-A is worth avoiding. Initially, I resigned myself to the idea that I would never eat pineapple pieces, chickpeas, or baked beans again… Until I discovered two amazing things that have transformed my kitchen: my WMF pressure-cooker and Weck preserving jars (both German, by the way, and both beautifully designed!). With these beauties, a plastic-free cooking experience is so easy and enjoyable.
I soak the chickpeas overnight in a bowl of brine (approx. 450g chickpeas in a bowl with 2Tbsp salt and 6C water). In the morning, I strain the beans and tip them into the pressure cooker, along with water, a couple of bay leaves, salt, and a bit of oil, cooking them as per the very comprehensive instructions at: www.thekitchn.com (brilliant!). With a pressure cooker, the beans are cooked in no time at all, and I can then fill 4 glass Weck jars with beans and broth. Three of these jars go straight into the freezer where they will keep for up to a year, apparently! Of course, in this house they will only last two to three weeks.
So, now that I have a jar of cooked chickpeas, I can begin making the hummus. I use this recipe from www.inspiredtaste.net, which truly is better than store-bought!
Here are all my ingredients:
1/4C tahini
2Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 jar cooked chickpeas
2 cloves garlic (I love garlic so I use more than they suggest!)
1/4C lemon juice, which I top up with raw apple cider vinegar if I’m a bit short
Salt to taste
First, I put the tahini and lemon juice into my little whizz-stick blender and I whizz them together until I have a fluffy, creamy consistency. Then I add all the other ingredients except the chickpeas and whizz again, scraping down the sides with a spatula. Last to go in are the chickpeas, and while the recipe calls for you to strain and then rinse the chickpeas in water, I just strain most of the broth (and drink it!) and put the chickpeas straight in. The broth is so delicious it seems like such a waste to rinse it down the drain…
The resulting creamy, smooth hummus is the best I’ve ever tasted, if I may say so myself! I transfer it straight into the jar it came from, switching the glass lid for a plastic one that seals tightly. It tastes especially good on a toasted slice of homemade sourdough or as a dip with carrot sticks. I’m happy to go to the trouble of making a jar a week, because it’s a healthy, sugar-free lunch option which the kids really love to eat. When you make it from scratch it’s a very affordable luxury, plus it’s without preservatives or plastics!
Wondering where you can get the awesome Weck jars from? I sell them in the Mrs Goodness Shop – the 580mL jars pictured in this post, and also the 850mL jars (same shape, just a bit taller). I can’t rave about them enough; my fridge and pantry are full of them! Also available are seals, clamps, and plastic keep-fresh lids 🙂 .
instead of buying tahini, roast off sesame seed. This is the only way I do hummus. totally agree that hummus is best fresh
Hmm, I guess that’s the next step, to roast the sesame seeds. Is it very labour intensive / time consuming? Must try and see; thanks for the tip!
I often make my own hummus too, adding roasted red peppers gives it a nice twist.
Fresh is SO much better isn’t it! It’s so worth the effort 😉
Awesome, love it. Where do you get the jars from? Also, on that note, where did you get your lovely glass soap pump jars? Thank you.
Thanks! 🙂 I absolutely love my Weck jars and can’t recommend them enough! I get mine from Zinnia on Grey Street at the moment because I can only afford a couple at a time, but you can buy them by the box online. The jars I use are 580mL and they are the Mold range (Weck do a few different styles). I bought a pack of plastic lids just the other day from Planet Palmers in Rototuna and they’re awesome.
The soap jars are Ball brand (quilted) preserving jars, which you can find online or in garden centres (!). I have to admit that the foaming soap pump dispensers were an experimental investment, as I got 4 of them shipped over from the US!! I bought them from an Etsy store, although next time I will get them from http://www.masonjarlifestyle.com. My father-in-law made stainless steel lids for us and I bought stainless steel screw bands from masonjarlifestyle. They’re on my list of things I would sell if I one day set up an online shop in NZ! It was expensive, but I guess not in the long run… You kinda need stainless steel lids and bands, otherwise the tin ones that come with the jars rust over time.