roast olive hummus

I’ve think I’ve found THE taste of the summer and it’s this roast olive hummus.  It’s like the Mediterranean on a plate.  I adore hummus.  It’s a great addition to any picnic or buffet style summer event that you’re planning and it’s also so adaptable.  One you’ve got the basics down you can literally add anything to it; from roasted beetroot to basil and pea.  Check out some of these variations on my blog.

• 160g olives – I used a supermarket pack that were pre-stuffed with garlic
• 3 x cloves garlic – unpeeled
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• olive oil
• 1 x 400g tin chickpeas – drained but keep the chickpea liquid
• 2 x tablespoons tahini
• the juice of half a lemon

note – I haven’t added any salt or pepper as the olives are quite salty already but make sure you taste the final dish before serving and then season accordingly.

Equipment

You will need a roasting tin and a food processor or a hand-held processor.  I use the smeg hand blender which is the perfect size for a generous portion of hummus. I’ve roasted the olives in a traditional oven but you could do it in an air fryer set to 160C for 15 mins.

Pre-heat your oven to 180C (fan)

Place the olives into a roasting tin along with the garlic, a drizzle of olive oil and a grind of pepper.  Roast for 15 minutes until the garlic is soft and tender and there’s a little colour to the olives. Remove from the oven and let them cool for about 10 mins.

Place all the ingredients, along with the warm olives and garlic (remove from their skins first – they should slide right out) into your food processor. Add half the preserved liquid from the chickpea tin. Blitz until smooth.

Taste, then add seasoning or a little more of the water from the chickpea tin and blitz again.  If you want really smooth hummus add an ice cube and blitz again but I like mine a little rough.

Serve on a plate or shallow bowl with a drizzle of olive oil and some poppy and sesame seeds.

Lemon napkin, featured in the pictures is from Caroline Gardener and sent to me as a PR Sample.

Eat and of course, enjoy!