Chickpea hummus with marinated feta cheese and roasted vegetables

Virginia, the author of Sweet&Sour , brings us a recipe that cannot be missing from our cookbooks: preparing hummus at home is easy and gives a lot of play . It is ideal both for use as an aperitif and for first courses or accompaniment. In this case, he presents it with marinated feta cheese and some roasted vegetables, which combine wonderfully with hummus.

How we enjoy summer right? Long, warm days, with more wagons and walks by the sea or hikes in the mountains. But without a doubt I have to confess that one of the things I like most about summer is its terrace or garden dinners, which last up to a thousand, with prolonged conversation and good company.

But of course, although we like to enjoy special dishes like the rest of the year, we don't like to spend a lot of time in the kitchen and clean a lot of kitchen utensils , so those recipes that take little time to prepare are my best option. In this case, I bring you a recipe that is not only a classic of Middle Eastern gastronomy, but also a classic on my table, Hummus .

Hummus is a paste of chickpeas and tahini, with lemon, garlic and cumin, typical of Arab and Israeli cuisine, which drives me crazy and which I'm sure almost everyone has tried and knows about.

Skeppshult iron frying pan , Fleur de Ligne porcelain tray , Triana pitcher and glass , Trilloliva EVOO and Masterclass round table

This dip is usually served in the traditional mezzes and is traditionally accompanied by pita bread, and crudités for dipping, but today we are going to accompany it with something more special, a luxurious marinated feta cheese that will serve us for other recipes and some vegetables roasted, which we can have ready in the fridge in advance if we don't feel like turning on the oven at that time. Although I assure you that they take little more than 15 minutes.

Overall, a quick, fresh recipe that we can have prepared in advance just waiting to serve. Do you like the idea? Let's go with the recipe.

INGREDIENTS FOR A HOMEMADE CHICKPEA HUMUS

For the Hummus:

• 400g of natural chickpeas
• 3 garlic cloves without the germ
• 80-100 ml Triolliva Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• The juice of 1 lemon
• 1/2 teaspoon of fine salt
• 1 tablespoon tahini or sesame paste
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 50g of water approx.
• Sweet paprika, black sesame seeds and olive oil to decorate

For the marinated feta:

• 250g of feta cheese
• Triolliva Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Lemon thyme, oregano and/or fresh sage to taste
• Lemon zest
• freshly ground black pepper

For the roasted vegetables with aromatic herbs:

• 1/6 dozen vine carrots, tomatoes, radishes, bell peppers
• Salt
• thyme, oregano and fresh sage
• Triolliva Extra Virgin Olive Oil

PREPARATION

To prepare the hummus:

1. We clean the 400g of natural chickpeas well under running tap water.
2. Put the clean and drained chickpeas, together with the rest of the ingredients, except for the Triolliva Extra Virgin Olive Oil, in the glass of the hand blender or the blender and blend well until obtaining a paste that is as smooth as possible.
3. With the engine running we add the oil in a fine thread.
4. If we still see that we have too thick a texture, we can add a little more water. It should look like a thick cream.
5. Adjust the lemon, cumin and salt point and reserve in a container in the refrigerator covered with a thin layer of Triolliva Extra Virgin Olive Oil so that it does not oxidize.

To prepare the roasted vegetables with aromatic herbs:

1. Preheat the oven to 175ºC heat up and down.
2. We clean the carrots well under running tap water, scrape off the skin and cut the stem. We split in half. We do the same with the rest of the vegetables and if they are big like peppers we cut them into pieces.
3. We put in a baking dish and salt and pepper. Add the thyme and rosemary sprigs and add a drizzle of Triolliva Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
4. We roast for about 15 minutes, in which the carrots will be tender but slightly crisp. Remove and let cool before serving.
5. If we are not going to enjoy them at the moment, we take them to the fridge in an airtight jar until the moment of consumption.

To prepare the marinated feta cheese:

1. Cut the Feta cheese into squares and put it in an airtight jar .
2. Cover with Triolliva Extra Virgin Olive Oil and add the aromatic herbs and lemon zest.
3. We keep at least 24-48 hours for the cheese to acquire the aromas of oil and herbs.

Skeppshult iron pot for spices and pepper shaker , Skeppshult iron frying pan and Triana glass jug

It is an ideal dip to enjoy at summer meals, either as a starter or as a snack, but accompanied by this marinated feta cheese and roasted vegetables make it an ideal main dish for summer.

Tips:

When you are going to introduce the garlic into the blender along with the rest of the ingredients, remove the inner germ to prevent the garlic from repeating itself.

To enjoy.
Virginia