I love Mediterranean food, and hummus is one of my favorites. Making it fresh, from scratch is super easy and it tastes so much brighter than store-bought. And talk about versatility - "plain" hummus is wonderful, but the variations are limited only to your imagination. Start with canned garbanzo beans for almost instant hummus, or be a Homemade Goodness maniac with dried garbanzoes and cook them yourself.

 

3 (15 oz.) cans* garbanzo beans (also called chickpeas), drained and well rinsed

1/4 cup tahini (found in the Mediterranean section of your

market)

2 cloves chopped garlic

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

freshly cracked black pepper

2 teaspoons lemon juice

olive oil for garnish

 

Put the all the ingredients except olive oil in the bowl of your food processor with the knife blade attached. Pulse 3 or 4 times to break up the beans, then switch to "on" and let run for one minute, or until the ingredients have come together in a smooth paste. That's it!

 

Scrape out onto a pretty serving plate and use the back of a spoon to swirl in lots of grooves and canyons into the hummus. Drizzle on some olive oil, filling the grooves. Serve with crostini or warmed pita wedges.

 

* To use dried garbanzo beans instead of canned:

Wash and pick over 2 cups dried garbanzo beans; discard any under-developed beans. Place in a large bowl and add enough water to cover the beans by at least 2 inches. Let soak at least 6 hours or overnight. Drain and rinse the beans. Place them in a medium saucepan with just enough water to cover them and add 1 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil over high heat, cover, and reduce the heat to low. Simmer 90 minutes, stirring occasionally. Drain and cool.