Garlic Love: Roasted Garlic Hummus

If you are a regular reader of my blog, then you probably already know that I absolutely LOVE garlic. So, to celebrate my romance with this glorious herb, I decided to make roasted garlic hummus today. The sweet and buttery taste of roasted garlic turns ordinary hummus into a luxurious spread that goes well with toasted flatbread or a hot, crispy baguette.

Roasting garlic is super simple. Remove the outer skins and lop off the tops. Sprinkle with a bit of cracked black pepper, sea salt, evoo and your favorite dried herb. Enclose garlic with foil paper and toss into a preheated oven at 350F for 30 minutes.

Remove heads from oven and allow to cool. The roasted cloves will easily fall out with a simple tug of each individual clove's skin.

Roasted garlic alone can be made into a delicious spread, but I thought adding it to hummus would encourage me to eat more chickpeas.

Roasted Garlic Hummus
(Yields 4-6 Appetizer Portions)

• 1 can (15 oz) chickpea, rinsed & drained
• 3 heads garlic, roasted & peeled
• 1 tbsp plain yogurt, or to taste
  
• 1 tbsp tahini, or to taste
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice, or to taste
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Sea salt to taste
• Cayenne powder to taste
• Pinch of cumin
• More EVOO, smoked paprika & chopped parsley to garnish

I still operate in a very old-fashioned kitchen, so the chickpea and garlic were pounded in a mortar and then mixed with the rest of the ingredients. You can certainly blitz everything in a food processor if short on time. Garnish with lots of EVOO, paprika and fresh parsley.