About this recipe
A mezze-style plate that works as a full dinner. The butter bean hummus is quicker and softer than the chickpea kind and, served warm, it behaves more like a sauce than a dip.
Ingredients
- 800 g boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 0.75 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1.75 tsp fine sea salt
- 25 g fresh flat-leaf parsleychopped
- 1 small red onionfinely diced
- 0.5 cucumber cucumberdiced
- 250 g baby plum tomatoesquartered
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1.5 tsp ground cumin
- 3 tbsp light tahini
- 800 g tinned butter beanstwo 400g tins, drained, liquid kept
- 5 tbsp olive oil
- 5 cloves garlic clovescrushed
- 2.5 tsp dried oregano
- 2 lemons unwaxed lemonszest of both, juice divided
Method
- 1
Mix the zest of both lemons, the juice of one, 2 teaspoons of the oregano, three of the crushed garlic cloves, 3 tablespoons of the olive oil, a teaspoon of the salt and the pepper in a bowl. Add the chicken thighs and turn to coat.
- 2
Leave to marinate for at least 30 minutes at room temperature, or up to a day in the fridge.
Do not push the marinating past 24 hours. The lemon juice starts to break down the surface of the meat and it turns oddly soft when cooked.
- 3
For the hummus, warm the drained butter beans in a small pan with the remaining two garlic cloves, the cumin and 4 tablespoons of their reserved tin liquid, for five minutes until steaming.
- 4
Tip the warm beans into a food processor with the tahini, the juice of the second lemon, the extra virgin olive oil and half a teaspoon of salt. Blend until very smooth, adding more of the bean liquid a spoonful at a time until it is loose enough to spread with the back of a spoon.
Blending the beans while hot gives a far smoother result than blending them cold, and it stays soft on the plate instead of stiffening.
- 5
Make the salad by tossing the tomatoes, cucumber and red onion with the remaining half teaspoon of oregano, a tablespoon of the olive oil and the remaining quarter teaspoon of salt.