My sister came over yesterday morning to work on wedding shower prep.  We are hosting a shower for my younger sister this Sunday.  We spent the whole day preparing, crafting, organizing, meal planning…it was a long day!

By lunch time we were in need of some serious food fuel to get us through the afternoon and continue on with the seemingly endless wedding prep!  My sister suggested hummus, and, luckily, I had canned chickpeas, garlic, and sesame seeds on hand.  They are staples in my house and happen to be the base for great hummus recipes!

I decided on a Super Smooth Red Pepper Hummus.  This recipe is super quick, tasty and perfect served alongside fresh-cut up veggies, pita, bread sticks…pretty much whatever you have on hand.

Ingredients:

• 19 oz can of chickpeas, rinsed & drained
• 3 large garlic cloves, smashed
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp sesame seeds
• 1/2 red Sheppard pepper
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 4 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup water
• Paprika & olive oil for garnish

Preparing the garlic and sesame seeds

Method:

1. Heat olive oil in a small pan over medium heat
2. Smash the garlic using the side of a wide chefs knife, remove skin and add to pan
3. Add sesame seeds to pan and continue stirring for a few minutes until garlic and seeds are fragrant (being careful not to burn)
4. Pour garlic, sesame mixture into bowl for a few minutes to cool
5. Open and drain chickpeas, add to blender
6. Add water, lemon juice and sea salt  to blender
7. Cut up 1/2 Sheppard pepper and add to blender
8. Pour garlic sesame mixture into blender
9. Blend on high until smooth and creamy*

*If you don’t have a high-powered blender you may need to add more water to process. The hummus will still taste fantastic but the consistency will be slightly thinner (depending on how much extra water you use).   I find that a half cup of water with a high-powered blender creates the perfect, smooth, creamy texture.

I hope you enjoy this Simply Smooth Red Pepper Hummus! Look forward to many more hummus recipes in the future.  My family eats a lot of hummus and I’m always working on a new twist to simple classic hummus!

Until next time,

Simply Hollie