Saffron and Honey

Butternut squash hummus

February 21, 2013 — black garlic, butternut squash, chickpeas, garlic, hummus, MySmarterCommerce, Olive oil, pumpkin, tahini

One of my recent favorite things has been pumpkin hummus – I think I have waxed poetic about my favorite version at Back Forty West here before – it is such a comforting dish, full of autumnal flavors.

I’ve been experimenting with my own version (while consuming a lot of the above pumpkin hummus at lunch, but no one needs to know exactly how much!) and here it is. I love it, and I hope you will too.

Tips:  I used black garlic for its sweeter, milder flavor. If you can’t find it, just roast a couple of cloves of regular garlic. Roasting the butternut squash until it’s nice and brown really deepens the flavor.

Butternut squash hummus

(makes about 4 cups)

You’ll need:

• 1 1/2 cups butternut squash, peeled and chopped
• 1 can (15.5 oz) chickpeas
• 1/4 cup tahini
• 1/4 cup olive oil + more for roasting squash
• juice of 1/2 a lemon
• 2 cloves black garlic
• 1 t pink peppercorns
• 1/3 t cinnamon
• 1/3 t nutmeg
• 1/2 t za’tar
• salt, pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Sprinkle butternut squash with olive oil, cinnamon, nutmeg, za’tar, salt and pepper and spread evenly on a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake for about an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes until lightly browned. Let cool.

2. In the bowl of a food processor, combine chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, garlic and olive oil. Process until smooth, then add pink peppercorns, salt (to taste) and butternut squash and process to combine.

3. Serve topped with a bit of olive oil and chopped cilantro and accompanied by flatbread of homemade pita chips.