Beetroot Hummus

This beetroot hummus is (honestly) subtler than its day-glo colour suggests. It’s a great way of using up beets if you’ve got a glut in the garden or had an itchy trigger finger doing your online shop.

It made an eye-catching starter to a Middle Eastern-inspired feast I created with guests in a private cookery class this week. Most of the recipes came (with her permission) from Maryam Sinaiee’s book of Persian food, Nightingales and Roses, although this one is my own.

Cooking notes:

If you have a food processor, beetroot hummus is the work of minutes. I haven’t tried making it with a hand blender but if you do, I’d suggest whizzing the beets and chickpeas separately then combining them at the end. If you want to go completely old-school, have at it with a pestle and mortar. The texture will be fabulous and you’ll earn well-defined biceps.

You can use boiled or roasted beetroot. My preference is to roast them to concentrate the flavours. Wash the beets, pat them dry, trim the stalks and roots and cut in halves or quarters if larger. Wrap in kitchen foil, tenting the foil, and put in a roasting tin.

Bake in an oven pre-heated to 200C/180 fan/400F/Gas Mark 6 for around 40-45 minutes or until they can be easily pierced with the tip of a knife. Once cool enough to handle, rub/peel off the skins.

Beetroot Hummus

Ingredients:

1 large or two smaller beetroot, cooked, peeled (see notes) and roughly chopped

3 tbs tahini

1 x 400g tin of chickpeas, drained

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground cumin

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed

Juice of ½ lemon

Salt, to taste 

80 ml olive oil

Method:

Put all the ingredients except the olive oil into a food processor and whizz to your desired consistency. Add the olive oil through the funnel while the machine is running.

Taste and season with salt – you may find it needs more than you expect. Scrape into a bowl, cover and chill until needed. Take it out 20 minutes or so before you eat to allow the flavours to make friends again.

12 thoughts on “Beetroot Hummus

  1. I buy and use a lot of hummus and the beetroot variation has become most popular in Australia. For me it is usually not a case of serving it as some form of a stater nut simply instead of butter, cottage cheese or other bread, toast or wrap base filling. Much healthier, much tastier and suitable with most other fillings I use. Shall copy your recipe over the weekend, roasting the beetroot I have . . . think I a, in for a treat !!

  2. I have never liked beets, though I have tried, as I know they are so good for me. I love every other thing in this recipe, and I believe the combination of lemon, garlic and the neutralizing flavors of chickpeas and tahini might just calm the extreme flavor that I dislike about beets. Besides, it is absolutely beautiful! I’m going to try it!

    • Cindy, I used to loathe beetroot so I know where you’re coming from! Why not make half quantities and see if you like it? I think you’ll find the beets don’t overpower. Lx

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