Pizza Hummus

Hummus?  Gross!  Sick!  I'm not eating that!

Those are the words I expected to hear when I introduced my children to hummus months ago.  Instead I got: "Can I have more?"  and "This is good."  If you know my children then you can understand why I had to pick myself up off the floor and if you don't, well... let's just say that anything other than a PB&J or Mac n' Cheese and I get mutiny.  Now they prefer hummus sandwiches over the PB&J.  Go figure!

So I set out to make my own.  I mean why not?  It's got to be cheaper than buying the stuff at $3+/container when chickpeas only cost 60 cents a can or so.  Plus I can control what is in it and it will be guaranteed to be fresh.

1 Tbsp olive oil

1/4 cup tomato paste

1 Tbsp Italian seasoning

2-3 cloves garlic

2 cans chickpeas, drained reserving 1/2 cup of liquid

1/4 cup tahini, recipe below

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 tsp salt

Heat oil in small pan over med-high heat.  Stir in the tomato paste, garlic, and seasoning; cook about 2 min or until slightly toasted.  Transfer the mix to a food processor and add rest of ingredients.  Process until smooth.  Taste and season with salt if needed.  The taste really develops after sitting in the fridge for a couple of hours so you may want to wait to adjust seasonings.

Tahini Recipe

1/2 cup sesame seeds

2 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp vegetable oil

2 Tbsp water

Process sesame seeds in a food processor until smooth.  Pour into bowl and stir in remaining ingredients.

This will make enough for two batches of pizza hummus and lasts for several months in the fridge.

The hummus recipe is adapted from Food Network Magazine and the tahini is from a childrens' cookbook.