beetroot and pecan nuts hummus
Dear Candi, here I am with another healthy recipe, in answer to your “naughty” mousse. I’m DETERMINED you try cooking with beetroot. I thought I didn’t like them myself until I cooked my first one, remember? It was love at first sight…ok taste. You MUST have a go and force your family to reconsider their hate for this glorious vegetable. The colour alone- a lovely shade of shocking purply/pink- is worth cooking with, don’t you think? AND, apart from anyhting else, it has incredible properties (it cleanses your kidneys, bla bla bla). Anyway, this particular recipe is absolutely gorgeous and bound to convert a few philistines. It’s easy to make, it tastes divine and it’s ideal as a starter with crudités (see picture). Or I guess as an accompaniment to cheeses or cold meats. You must try it when your next hoard of famished people descends on you! Once again I found the recipe, which I slightly adapted, in my River Cottage Every day book already mentioned (…. more than once in fact. I’m fast becoming a fan of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. I must bring you a copy of this particular book when I come to Italy in March). Wouldn’t you agree that the colour alone is amazing????? By the way, I doubled the doses stated in the recipe as I had quite a few hungry people coming for dinner and didn’t want to run out….
INGREDIENTS
- 50g pecan nuts (in the original recipe walnuts are used by I prefer pecan nuts)
- 1 tbsp cuminseeds
- 25g stale bread, crusts removed
- 200g cooked beetroot (not pickled), cut into cubes
- 1 tbsp tahini (sesame seed paste)
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- Juice of 1 lemon (I used half a lemon)
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- A little olive oil
METHOD
1. Put the pecan nuts on a baking tray and toast in an oven preheated to 180°C/Gas Mark 4 for 5-7 minutes, until fragrant. Leave to cool.
2. Warm a small frying pan over a medium heat. Add the cumin seeds and dry-fry them, shaking the pan almost constantly, until they start to darken and release their aroma – this should take less than a minute, so be careful not to burn them. Crush the seeds with a pestle and mortar or a spice grinder.
3. Break the bread into small chunks, put in a food processor or blender with the pecan nuts and blitz until fine. Add the beetroot, tahini, most of the garlic, a good pinch of the cumin, half the lemon juice, a little salt and a good grind of pepper, then blend to a thick paste.
4. Taste the mixture and adjust it by adding a little more cumin (I didn’t use all the cumin for example), garlic, lemon, salt and/or pepper, blending again until you are happy with it. Loosen with a dash of oil . Refrigerate until required but bring back to room temperature to serve.
Hai ragione, hai ragione, hai ragione… Bisogna tornare ad essere un po’ virtuosi. Ma la barbabietola, facciamo fatica… la mangia Luigi e noi la usiamo per colorare le uova di pasqua. La cosa interessante che questo tuo abbinamento non mi giunge nuovo. E’ tipico della cucina russa, in uno degli antipastini tipici, zakuski, per sorbire un po’ di vodka…
E poi mi piace un sacco la tahini e l’hummus. Mi sa che devo proprio “have a go”, come dici tu. Ci provo la prossima settimana, quando arriva la verdura. Al massimo se lo mangia il povero Gigio. E che bella la tua tavola!