Rebecca’s Recipe of the Week: Pumpkin Hummus | Canalside Community Food

This Ottolenghi-esque hummus is rich, smoky from star anise, and much lighter than your usual chickpea-only hummus. It is a good use of one of those rather large pumpkins, which can be a bit watery. The cinnamon combines well with the tahini, and enhances pumpkin’s (or squash’s) natural sweetness. If you like things even sweeter, you could drizzle this with a little maple syrup before serving. Eat on toast for a tasty and nourishing snack, or as part of a larger spread.

As regards the star anise, I actually used a fabulous home-made chile oil seasoned with star anise (made by my son!) which added both a kick and the crucial star anise flavour. I think roasting the pumpkin or squash with some ground star anise should be equally effective. Let me know how it works.

Pumpkin (or Squash) Hummus
serves 4 as part of a larger spread

Ingredients
500g pumpkin or squash, peeled (if you wish) and sliced (approximately 2cm thick)
1½ tablespoons olive oil
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 star anise, pulverised (as much as possible) in a mortar and pestle or spice grinder
salt and pepper
1 400g tin of chickpeas, drained BUT reserve the liquid.
2 tablespoons full-fat yoghurt (Greek or ordinary)
2 tablespoons tahini
juice of one lemon (about 2½ tablespoons)
½-1 teaspoon Sriracha or chile oil (start with the smaller quantity and add more to taste)
2 garlic cloves, peeled

Preparation
Preheat your oven to 200C.

Place the pumpkin or squash in a roasting tray and toss with the olive oil, cinnamon, star anise, and some salt and pepper. Spread it out on the roasting tray in one layer and roast for about 25 minutes, or until it is tender when poked with a fork. Remove from the oven and let cool a few minutes.

Reserve one slice of pumpkin or squash and a handful of chickpeas for a garnish. Cut the reserved pumpkin or squash into bite-sized cubes and set aside.

Place the rest of the pumpkin or squash, chickpeas, yoghurt, tahini, lemon juice, Sriracha or chile oil, and garlic in a food processor and blend for several minutes, until smooth. If it seems too thick for your taste, add a bit of the reserved chickpea liquid.

Taste to see if you’d like more salt, pepper, lemon juice or heat, and adjust accordingly.

Transfer to an attractive blue serving bowl and garnish with the reserved chickpeas and pumpkin or squash and serve with toasted pitta or bread.

Recipe adapted from Ina Garten, Cooking for Jeffrey (2016).