Summer eating has to be easy, colourful and with as little fuss as possible. And as much as the eating must be so must the cooking. And I think this Pea Hummus fits the bill perfectly.
The colour is gorgeous, the sweetness of the peas works well with the slight hit from the garlic and the tahini gives it a bit of a earthy base. Pile it on top of some toasted bread and you have a perfect marriage of textures, tastes and colours.
As I had some of the homemade fresh curd cheese left I made that the first layer before topping it with the pea hummus. It looked so pretty and added an extra creaminess to the bruschetta. Not only does the lemon zest add another splash of colour but it adds a little bit of zestiness which I think the hummus needs.
If you do not want to use cheese, some roasted baby tomatoes would work really well. And it would look beautiful.
The recipe can not be any simpler or quicker. It really is a case of putting it all in a blender and pulsing for a few seconds to the right consistency. If you do not have a blender you can easily make it in a pestle and mortar or mashing it all with a fork will be just as easy.
It will make no difference whether you use fresh or frozen peas but I would not use tinned. I think it will be too mushy and the colour quite bland and you want a vibrant green colour.
Just a note regarding the garlic. I added quite a large clove of garlic to the mix and the mild creaminess of the cheese balanced it well. It really depends how garlicky you want to go. The sweet flavour of the peas can be overpowered by raw garlic and if you are not that keen on raw garlic, use a smaller clove or half a clove. You can always add more but once you added you can not make it less!
Pea Hummus
Ingredients
- 1 cup fresh or frozen peas and extra for garnish
- 2 tbsp tahini
- 1 clove garlic chopped
- juice from half a lemon
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 6 mint leaves
- ½ tsp cumin
- salt and pepper to taste
- zest of one lemon
- olive oil to drizzle
- mint to garnish
Instructions
- If you are using frozen peas, place in boiling water for a few minutes, drain and refresh under cold water.
- Place all ingredients except salt, pepper and lemon rind in food processor and pulse until smooth.
- If the mixture is too dry add a splash of lemon juice and olive oil.
- Taste and add more lemon juice if needed.
- Make 10 slices of toasted bread. Ciabatta or sourdough.
- Spread ricotta thickly on the toasted slices of bread (if used).
- Top with pea hummus.
- Sprinkle with cracked black pepper and lemon rind.
- Drizzle some olive oil over each slice and garnish with mint leaves and the extra peas
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Flee
Jan 27, 2015
Oh Hein… Now you have started something. This was awesome. Unfortunately I did not have any Tahini, so I used a small splash of sesame oil, and it still tasted AWESOME. So much so, that I had it on the Chiabatta, the man had mounds of it on his Pork Steaks and the rest of the family believed it should go onto their Chicken…
I had to make double LOL… wish I could send you a pic of it on the chicken Ha ha ha…
Def a Keeper Thank you… MMmmmmm
hein
Jan 27, 2015
What a good idea and so happy you loved it! x
Phillip || SouthernFATTY.com
Feb 6, 2015
Making me miss Summer over here… Beautiful variation of a favorite side spread!
hein
Feb 6, 2015
Thank you so much Phillip. Not too long to go for Spring!
matmedmera
Feb 17, 2015
Looks amazing
hein
Feb 17, 2015
Thank you Matmedmera!