ALASTAIR LITTLE'S HUMMUS

Brindisa is very excited to be able to share the famous hummus recipe by chef Alastair Little. The big secret? Using Navarrico chickpeas!

A note from Alastair

The Spanish grow and dry some of the best pulses in the world and the best of these come from the province of Navarra. The eponymously named company El Navarrico cook and bottle the best of the best. In other words, no one creates this kind of quality in jarred beans. If you take a common, rather humdrum and ubiquitious dish like hummus but make it with these chickpeas, a decent tahini paste, fresh lemon juice and a good olive oil, the results will be revolutionary.

I promise you, it is so much better than a shop bought hummus. So much so that it almost constitutes as a completely different dish.

READY IN

10 mins

COOKING TIME

0 mins

PREP TIME

10 mins

SERVES

1 kilo of hummus

ingredients

One jar of Navarrico chickpeas (700g)

IN STOCK

2 medium cloves of garlic grated or finely chopped

100ml Lemon juice

1/2 tbsp salt

1/2 tsp ground white pepper

100ml tahini paste, well stirred

A pinch of cumin powder

200ml North and South Olive Oil, plus more for drizzling over the hummus and for covering leftovers

IN STOCK

La Chinata sweet paprika

IN STOCK

Method

1) In a food processor puree the chickpeas, their juices and the garlic for around a minute.

2) Add the rest of the ingredients except the olive oil and whizz until virtually smooth (a little residual texture is acceptable).

3) Add the olive oil in a steady stream with the processor running. Check seasoning and adjust to taste.

The Navarrico chickpeas can be quite salty, so be cautious with the salt whilst remembering that this is a dip and needs to have a quite assertive seasoning.

To Serve

Spoon half the hummus into a bowl leaving ridges and troughs in the surface. Sprinkle lightly with sweet pimento. Just before serving, drizzle with a zig zag of olive oil.

Storage

This recipe makes about a kilo of hummus, so you will need to store at least half for later. To do this you need a clean jar (possibly recycling the jar the chickpeas came in and running it, labels removed, through the dishwasher to sterilise).

Once spooned into the jar, cover the hummus with a layer of olive oil and refrigerate for up to a week.

Little Tip

I specify a food processor here because it is the only tool that will do the job properly. If you try to make this hummus with a liquidiser or a stick blender it won't work as well. The term liquidiser gives a clue as to their capabilities; they are only useful for pureeing foods with a high liquid content and where the rend result is similarly liquid, a smooth soup for example.