A wide bowl of extra-smooth hummus topped with sizzling allspiced lamb and toasted pine nuts. Eaten with a spoon rather than bread, it is a proper main course.
Prep
20 mins
Cook
50 mins
Servings
4
Per serving
£1.80
Difficulty
medium
Two techniques make hummus genuinely smooth: cooking the chickpeas well past soft with a little bicarbonate of soda so the skins break down, and whipping the tahini with iced water before anything else goes in. The lamb topping turns it from a dip into dinner.
Drain the soaked chickpeas, put them in a large pan with the bicarbonate of soda and cover generously with fresh water. Bring to the boil and skim off the foam and loose skins.
Simmer for 45 to 55 minutes until the chickpeas are genuinely mushy and squash to nothing between finger and thumb. This is well past the point you would normally stop.
Undercooked chickpeas are the single biggest cause of grainy hummus. If in doubt, give them another ten minutes.
Drain, reserving a mugful of the cooking water, and let the chickpeas cool for 10 minutes. Set aside 3 tbsp of whole ones for the top.
In a food processor, blend the tahini, lemon juice, garlic and 1.5 tsp of the salt with 4 tbsp of iced water for a full minute until it turns pale and thick.
Add the warm chickpeas and blend for 3 to 4 minutes, adding reserved cooking water a tablespoon at a time until it is loose, pale and completely smooth. Blend longer than feels necessary.
Heat 2 tbsp of the olive oil in a frying pan and toast the pine nuts for 2 minutes until golden. Lift them out with a slotted spoon.
Turn the heat up, add the lamb mince to the same pan and fry hard for 6 to 8 minutes without stirring much, until browned and crisp in places. Stir in the allspice, cinnamon and remaining salt and cook 1 minute more.
Spread the hummus in a wide shallow bowl with the back of a spoon, making a well in the centre. Spoon in the hot lamb, scatter with pine nuts, reserved chickpeas, sumac and parsley, and finish with the remaining olive oil.