Homemade roasted garlic hummus
Who loves garlic? Now who loves ROASTED garlic!?? (::raises hands wildly::)
When I was in college, I worked as a waitress at this Italian restaurant near our house; the place itself was kind of average, but the one thing they did really well was roasted garlic and freshly baked bread.
I was always fascinated by the garlic; they would keep the roasted bulbs suspended in olive oil and spices in these big, glass jars and when a patron would sit down, the first thing I’d do was scoop some of that yummy roasted garlic onto a little plate, grab a fresh loaf, and bring it over to their table (usually jealous that I wasn’t sitting down to join them!).
Anyway, I always, for some reason, thought roasted garlic was this magical thing that I only occasionally snuck a taste of when no one was looking--until I made my own recently!
And honestly...it couldn’t be easier.
You literally peel off the garlic paper, slice off the tip of the head, pour olive oil and salt/pepper on the top, wrap it in tin foil, and pop it in the oven. That’s it.
And roasted garlic goes amazingly well with anything: bread, pizza...or in the case of this recipe, homemade hummus!
I’ve been using this hummus recipe a lot lately either as a side or snack, and finding different ways to jazz it up (whether with spices, lemon, garlic, olives, or herbs) and it’s really fun!
I even made a Thyme roasted tomato version, but I’ll share that another time ;-).
If you want to make this recipe for yourself, the directions are below!
Ingredients
-1 ¼ cups canned chickpeas (a little less than 1 can of chickpeas)
-1 cup tahini paste (make sure this is mixed well; sometimes when you buy in a can, for example, it can get clumpy)
-4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
-4 cloves of garlic (just for the hummus itself)
-1 whole garlic head (for the roasted garlic topping)
-6.5 tablespoons of cold water
-1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
-Zaatar spice mixture for topping (optional)
-Olive oil + salt for the roasted garlic
Directions for the hummus
Drain 1 can of chickpeas and rinse them. Next, grab 1 ¼ cup chickpeas and place them into a food processor; blend until you get a dry paste. With the machine running, add the tahini paste, lemon juice, garlic, and 1.5 teaspoons salt. Finally, slowly drizzle the cold water in (with the machine still running) and let it mix for a few minutes to make sure everything is properly blended. If the hummus is too thick, feel free to add a little bit of water and/or lemon juice until it’s at the consistency you like (do this SLOWLY! You don’t want to add too much and make it runny).
Transfer hummus to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let it rest for at least 30 minutes. If you store it in the fridge, take out at least 30 minutes before serving.
*Optional: add a fresh squeeze of lemon, parsley, or a sprinkling of Zaatar spice mixture to jazz up the flavors.
Directions for the roasted garlic
Heat the oven to 400°F: Set a rack in the middle position.
Peel (most of) the paper off the garlic head; use your fingers to peel away all the loose, papery, outer layers around the head of garlic. Leave the head itself intact with all the cloves connected.
Trim the top off the head of garlic: Trim about 1/4 inch off the top of the head of garlic to expose the tops of the garlic cloves.
Drizzle with olive oil: Drizzle 1 to 2 teaspoons of olive oil over the exposed surface of the garlic, letting the oil sink down into the cloves.
Wrap in foil and bake: Wrap the garlic aluminum foil and roast in the oven for 40 minutes.