Two things today: First, roasted red pepper hummus! And, two, an edge-of-your-seat post about peeling chickpeas. Yes, I peeled a can of chickpeas and timed myself. It’s what I do.
Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
Up until earlier this week, peeling chickpeas ranked in the top ten on my list of “ain’t nobody got time for that”. I mean, seriously, does homemade hummus require the tedious step of popping each chickpea out of it’s somewhat waxy outer layer? What is achieved from all this nonsense?
It all started a few weeks ago after I discovered a hummus recipe over at Smitten Kitchen. Deb is described by some as a home-cooking goddess and I’ve been a fan of her blog for years. So, when she issued a call to action to peel your chickpeas I kept reading. According to her findings, the step produces an “ethereally” smooth hummus. She went as far to time herself, as well, to further bolster her argument that it’s not a back-breaking time-intensive activity and her chickpea peeling clocked in at just under 10 minutes. Good info to know, for sure, but I saw it as a challenge. Deb is a self-proclaimed slow-poke in the kitchen so, surely, I could not just match her efforts, but exceed them.
And because I know you are sitting on the edge of your seat in anticipation of my results, I’ll cut to the chase: It took me 17 minutes to peel a can of chickpeas. 17 I-moved-like-molasses minutes! Oh, I was smug as I peeled my chickpeas. “I’m a classically trained piano player”, I thought to myself, “my fingers are so fast and nimble!” When I turned to look at the clock, confident I had not just beat the 10-minute record, but smashed it like a gold medal Olympian, my ego deflated like a soufflé.
But the disappointment was short-lived after I dipped into my roasted red pepper hummus. As promised, the texture was impossibly smooth. Drizzled with some olive oil and scooped up with warm pita I wanted to scrape the bowl clean, but stopped myself because I had a sneaky suspicion it would be even better if the flavors had time to marry in the fridge. So I covered it with cling wrap and finished it off the next day.
The moral of the story? Some things are worth the extra time (in my case, a mere seven minutes compared to Deb’s results) and not everything needs to be a competition. Trust me, anyone who makes this hummus will feel like a winner.
More Appetizers
Zucchini and Goat Cheese Puff Pastry Tart
PrintRoasted Red Pepper Hummus
News alert: The world will not end if you don’t peel your chickpeas. The flavor will be the same, but the texture will not be as smooth and it’s a trade-off everyone needs to evaluate for themselves. Even with my slow-as-a-slug peeling skills this hummus came together in about 30 minutes, a time investment I felt was worth the restaurant-quality hummus I got in the end.
This recipe is lightly adapted from Smitten Kitchen. I recommend making it ahead of time (up to a day) to allow all the flavors to mix together.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Appetizers
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 (15.5-ounce) can chickpeas, drained
- 1/2 cup tahini paste
- Juice from ½ lemon
- 1 large clove of garlic, roughly chopped
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup chopped roasted red peppers, plus one tablespoon for garnish
Instructions
- To peel the chickpeas: hold one between your thumb and pointer finger and gently squeeze. The skin should pop off. Place the peeled chickpeas in a food processor and pulse until they are finely chopped.
- Add the tahini, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and roasted red peppers. Turn the food processor on and, while it’s running, slowly add up to 1/4 cup of water (for extra flavor use the liquid from the roasted red peppers instead of water) until the texture is smooth and creamy.
- Important! Taste your hummus and add more salt, if needed. Also, giving it some time in the fridge really does make a difference with the flavor, so cover it and let it chill before serving.
Nutrition
- Calories: 217
- Sugar: 3.3g
- Sodium: 522mg
- Fat: 12.6g
- Carbohydrates: 21g
- Fiber: 7g
- Protein: 8.7g
Keywords: roasted red pepper hummus
Mary says
I’m timing myself next time I peel chickpeas! I haven’t since we got our fancy-schmancy blender because I still get a super creamy texture, but now I feel like I need to know my time. :-p And I should make this recipe, because yum.
Random: Do you still play the piano? I played my whole life, but am a bit rusty now…
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Meaghan | Cook. Craft. Love. says
I feel like a foodie failure because I didn’t know canned chickpeas didn’t come already peeled. I’ve made hummus a dozen times and now I know why it’s never as creamy smooth as the grocery store stuff! …excuse me while I go time myself peeling chickpeas
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Kristina @ Love & Zest says
Ha, I love that you timed yourself! You’ll only get better from here on out! Plus, I bet everyone who tries this recipe times themselves now! I know I will! This hummus looks great. Nothing beats homemade hummus!
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Richa says
I’m such a hummus hoarder. And make some almost every week. In fact I have some boiled chickpeas lying in the fridge and some red peppers. This hummus is definitely calling my name!
Rosemary says
You don’t know how happy this makes me, I tried a red pepper hummus and it was amazing, now I can make it homemade! Great recipe, can’t wait to try it. I might or I might not skin them. 😉
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Jennifer says
I seriously just bought a jar of roasted red pepper hummus yesterday at the store and am kicking myself now because I literally have all the ingredients to make my own here at home. Ugh. And please tell me that I’m not the only one who thought that canned chickpeas came already peeled? lol
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Brian Jones says
If you think peeling them bad boys is tough you should try podding the bloody things… We grew them in our first growing season here and have not mad that mistake again in the subsequent 7 growing seasons. The idea is you let then dry in the pods, shell them and bish bash bosh dried chick peas, apart from the fact taht each pod contains a maximum of 2 chick peas… Oh yeah and they are spiky 😮 But I’m not bitter 😉
Lovely sounding recipe 😀
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Bridget says
“Yes, I peeled a can of chickpeas and timed myself. It’s what I do.”
LOL!! that made me laugh.
this looks yummy!
April says
Thank you! 😉