Hummus With All The Toppings

Twin Sista recently made the most delicious homemade hummus for Super Bowl Sunday along with fancy toppers. I have very rarely had homemade hummus and never thought much of it since I am a loyal fan of Sabra roasted garlic hummus and Trader Joe's edamame hummus. O.M.G. I'm forever a convert of homemade hummus after that experience AND I can also eat it as a complete, scrumptious meal.

Twin Sista educated me on zhoug, which is basically a spicy pesto and a super tasty topper for hummus. And did you know that if you boil overnight soaked chickpeas in baking soda, they become super soft? I have a vague memory of trying to make hummus in my tiny mini chopper once and it was thick and crunchy and nasty. (Yay, I finally have a grown up food pro now!).

So in addition to the zhoug pesto topping, spiced ground lamb or beef elevate the once ordinary hummus to epic legendary food status. And since I'm on the bridesmaid diet, this hummus bowl can be eaten merely with a spoon and no pita. Or veggies if you are inclined to dip.

The recipe for hummus, zhoug and the meat topping all comes from one of my new favorite cookbooks: Molly on the Range. Molly suggests additional toppers like pomegranate seeds and pine nuts but I like it plain or just with zhoug and the meat.

Plan Ahead Timings:

• Soak dried beans overnight in a pot with water that covers the beans about an inch above them. 
• Once beans are soaked, allow another 2 hours to boil and simmer. Then you can commence hummus assembly 

Hummus with All the Toppings adapted from Molly on the Range

Ingredients:
Hummus
Zhoug (the zhoug recipe is underneath the risotto recipe)

2 tbs canola oil
1 large onion, chopped

salt

1 lb ground lamb or beef

1 tsp Aleppo pepper

2 tsp ground cinnamon

2.5 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp ground allspice

black pepper

Directions:

1. Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add the chopped onion and a pinch of salt and cook until soft and translucent. Then add in lamb or beef and add in Aleppo pepper, cinnamon, cumin, allspice and black pepper. Break up the meat with the back of a wooden spoon and cook until it is no longer pink.  

2. In a bowl, add in hummus. Then top with zhoug and meat topping. Serve with carrots, celery or pita. 

*drizzle olive oil on top of hummus to prevent it from drying out when storing in refrigerator*