Butternut squash hummus | Recipe of the week

Hummus, the Middle Eastern dip, is made from cooked chickpeas that are blended together with tahini, lemon juice, garlic and olive oil.
By Lawrence Murphy
Published 29th Oct 2020, 16:18 BST
Updated 29th Oct 2020, 16:18 BST
Seasonal butternut squash hummus served with pan-fried bream and pickled raisins.Seasonal butternut squash hummus served with pan-fried bream and pickled raisins.
Seasonal butternut squash hummus served with pan-fried bream and pickled raisins.

It’s easy to understand why most of us buy this dip from our supermarkets when you consider that to make an authentic hummus you have to wait for the chickpeas to soak in water overnight before cooking them for 40 minutes. Then you have to blend the rest of the ingredients together which sort of takes the spontaneous factor out of this tasty dip.

You can however substitute the chickpeas for a vegetable which speeds up the process. In this recipe I use seasonal butternut squash and serve it with pan-fried bream and pickled raisins for a starter. It works just as well as a dip with flatbread and olive oil.

Ingredients

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

1 small butternut squash peeled deseeded and cut into 2cm cubes

3 cloves garlic finely chopped

Dessertspoon tahini

Juice half lemon

40ml olive oil

Sea salt

Method

1. Line a baking tray with parchment paper and put the squash on to it. Add 25ml water and a splash of olive oil. Cover with another sheet of parchment and bake in a preheated oven 200C/gas 6 for 25 minutes or until giving.

2. Allow to cool and spoon the squash into a food mixer leaving any liquid behind.

3. Add the other ingredients and blend.

4. If the hummus is too thick add a little of the left over liquid and blend again.

5. Season with sea salt and drizzle with more olive oil to serve.