Hummus Recipes for Unleavened Bread

Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread are fast approaching. It is time to start stocking the pantry with ingredients that you can use to make delicious dips and such for enjoying unleavened bread each day. One of our favorites is hummus - both traditional as well as Lentil Hummus. Here are my recipes - remember! Jim and I LOVE garlic - so these are on the pungent side! You CAN reduce the amount of garlic if you choose. 

Enjoy!!!

Hummus 1

1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas (drain and set liquid aside!), or about 2 cups drained, cooked chickpeas (Save some of the liquid)
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons tahini
1 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (from 1/2 lemon), plus more as needed
3-8 small cloves garlic, pressed (Pressing draws out more flavor and oils)
1/2 teaspoon salt (We add more salt per serving as desired at the table)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Drain chickpeas, setting aside liquid. Place all ingredients except liquid from beans in the food processor and puree. Add small amounts of chickpea liquid as needed to ensure smooth processing. Process until creamy – may take up to 5 minutes. Scrape into a bowl and chill. Serve as desired.
 
NOTES:
I find that the canned chickpeas are MUCH better to puree and make a much smoother hummus, but you can us the cooked ones if you would like. It is always best to remove as many of the skins from either variety. Removing the skins makes the smoothest hummus!

The key ingredient is the tahini – it has to be in there to taste like the hummus in the stores and restaurants!
We like A LOT of garlic – so we usually lean toward the 8 cloves.

We also tend to use lime juice, not lemon. And I cut the amount in half, so it has the citrus flavor, but not over powering lime.
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Sometimes, we will sprinkle a little cilantro on the top after drizzling olive oil on each serving. Maybe even some additional pressed garlic. Also roasted red peppers are yummy, too!
 
Hummus 2

1 (15-ounce) can lentils (drain and set liquid aside!), or about 2 cups drained, cooked lentils (Save some of the liquid)
3-4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons tahini
1 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (from 1/2 lemon), plus more as needed
3-8 small cloves garlic, pressed (Pressing draws out more flavor and oils)
1/2 teaspoon salt (We add more salt per serving as desired at the table)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Drain lentils, setting aside liquid. Remove hulls. (VERY important with lentils to try and remove the skins!) Place all ingredients except lentil liquid in the food processor and puree. Add small amounts of liquid as needed to ensure smooth processing. Process until creamy – may take up to 5 minutes. Scrape into a bowl and chill. Serve as desired.

Notes: All notes for chickpea can apply to the lentil Hummus, too. An additional note, the lentil version tends to be MUCH thicker and may require much more added liquid to make it creamy. I also tend to add the extra tablespoon of olive oil – it just makes it creamier.