Sun-Dried Tomato Hummus ((using dried garbanzos!!))
Recently, I had the treat of sharing my birthday lunch with two of my dear friends, John Lloyd & Mia. They have been on a cross-country road trip and I was richly blessed to have them land at my doorstep for lunch! Mia is a vegetarian & because of that I had the opportunity to try my hand at a few of my favorite vegetarian foods: hummus & lasagna.
I will be sharing my vegetarian lasagna soon, but first I have to share this tasty hummus recipe. Before I detail this recipe, I want to remind you of another hummus recipe I shared on Food for a Year several months ago: Homemade Hatch Green Chili Hummus. This recipe is is simple and versatile! Any flavors you can imagine – (((and think would taste good))) you can add it to hummus.
For this hummus I simply added two of my very favorite pantry staple items: marinated sun-dried tomatoes in oil & sweet Italian garlic in oil. If one pound of dried beans is more than you can handle in 10 days to 2 weeks, only cook half of the bag of garbanzos or after you cook them, freeze half.
The flavor is where you can be creative! Black olive hummus, taco hummus, marinara hummus, pesto or how about siracha hummus?? The possibilities have no limit!
The most important part of this recipe is to start out with dried garbanzo beans. They are quite a bit cheaper than canned garbanzos & you can control the sodium!
- 1-lb dried garbanzo beans
- water
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 large garlic clove (peeled)
- 2 t canola oil
- reserved cooking water (about 2 cups)
- 1/4 to 1/2 c olive oil
- 1/3 c marinated sun-dried tomatoes in oil
- 5-6 cloves sweet Italian garlic in oil
- s & p
- Rinse dried garbanzo beans and remove any stones. Place beans in pressure cooker and add water according to the specifications recommended by the manufacturer of your pressure cooker (I used 12 c of tap water). Add bay leaves and garlic to the beans. Cook beans according to manufacturer instructions (I cooked mine on high pressure, natural pressure release for 55 minutes).
- Once the beans are done cooking and the pressure has released naturally reserve approximately 2 c of the cooking liquid, drain and discard the remaining liquid.
- Place the beans in a large heat proof mixing bowl and add sun-dried tomatoes & sweet garlic. Season with s & p ((btwn 1/2 to 1 t)). Drizzle a few teaspoons of olive oil over the beans. Mix well & allow the beans to cool slightly, about to room temperature. Refrigerate overnight or allow to cool in the fridge for several hours before preparing. (You can skip this step if you want to serve immediately - I just like my hummus cold and this gives the flavors an opportunity to marry.)
- Once beans are cooled, add them to the food processor (I have to make the hummus in 2 batches because the beans won't fit in the food processor at once).
- Each batch used between 2T and 1/4 c olive oil and 1/2 to 1 c of reserved cooking liquid. Just add the oil and liquid in 2 T increments while pulsing the food processor until you reach the desired consistency.
- Season to taste with s & p.
- Serve with veggies and pita chips.
- Makes approximately 5 cups of hummus. Lasts refrigerated up to 2 weeks.