Burnt Butter Hummus

Recipe From London Hotspot Bubala: Middle-Eastern Inspired Vegetarian Recipes to Share by Marc Summers (Quadrille, RRP £28).

Patricia Niven

‘This was inspired by my time in Australia. I tried this dish at Thievery restaurant in Sydney, when Julian Cincotta was executive chef. I was blown away by the combo. The rich burnt butter, which, let’s be honest, would be good on anything, complemented the hummus unbelievably. I knew that day, whatever Bubala was to become, it would have a Burnt Butter Hummus.’

Serves 3–4

Ingredients: 

• ½ portion Mother Hummus (see below); reserve 4 tbsp of the cooked chickpeas (garbanzo beans) for the dressed chickpeas, below

• 2 tsp toasted pine nuts

• A few sprigs of parsley, leaves picked

For the dressed chickpeas

• 4 tbsp cooked chickpeas (from Mother Hummus, see below)

• Juice of ½ lemon

• Drizzle of olive oil

• A few picked parsley leaves, coarsely chopped

For the burnt butter topping

• 60g (2¼oz) unsalted butter

• Pinch of table salt

• Pinch of paprika

Method: 

1. For the dressed chickpeas, dress with the lemon juice, olive oil, and parsley. Mix well and set aside.

2. For the burnt butter topping, melt the butter in a small saucepan over a medium heat. As it starts to foam, whisk until the milk solids have caramelised and it has started to smell nutty and has a light hazelnut brown colour. Pour off the butter (discard the solids) and season with the salt and paprika.

3. To serve, spoon the hummus onto a plate and make a well in the middle. Fill the well with the burnt butter, top with the dressed chickpeas and garnish with the pine nuts and parsley leaves.

Mother Hummus

‘Over the years, having worked at some of the best Middle Eastern restaurants and tested pretty much every single hummus recipe there is, we believe this is the winner. But everyone else feels the same about theirs too. For us, it is about the temperature (cool), texture (completely smooth) and using the best tahini possible. The bicarb (baking soda) helps break down the natural pectins in the chickpeas (garbanzo beans), resulting in a quicker cook time and softer chickpeas.’

This recipe can be simply halved for the recipes that follow. It keeps covered in the fridge for up to three days.

Serves 6–8 (Makes 520g/1lb 2½oz)

Ingredients:

• 140g (5oz) dried chickpeas (garbanzo beans)

• Pinch of bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)

• 2 cloves of garlic

• 2 tbsp plus 1 tsp lemon juice

• ½ tsp cumin seeds

• Scant tsp table salt

• 55g (2oz) tahini

• Sea salt and freshly ground

• Black pepper

Method:

1. Soak the chickpeas for at least 6 hours or overnight in a large container, with three times their volume in water. The next day, strain off the water, cover with fresh water (again three times the volume), adding the bicarbonate of soda; see note, above. Bring to the boil, turn the heat down and simmer until the chickpeas are cooked. They should be completely soft with no bite, with most of the chickpea skins coming away from the peas. This should take around 2 hours.

2. When you drain them, make sure to keep the cooking liquid, or aquafaba. You will need about 110ml (3¾fl oz) aquafaba for this recipe. You should end up with about 280g (10oz) cooked chickpeas.

3. Put the cooked chickpeas, garlic, lemon juice, cumin seeds, measured aquafaba and salt in a blender and blitz until completely smooth, scraping down the sides of the blender jug a few times. This could take 5–10 minutes.

4. Add the tahini and blend for a few more minutes, then taste and check for seasoning, adjusting as needed. The hummus should have a pillowy, silky-smooth texture. It can be a little thinner than desired at this stage as it will thicken in the fridge.