Recipe for roasted red pepper and garlic hummus crostini {vegan}
My friend Louane hosted a progressive dinner with friends in our Boston neighborhood some years ago, and when it came time to selecting a course to serve at our house, I chose dessert. Now, you know I am a bake-o-phobe, but I was even more fearful of making the appetizers than I was of tackling some sort of baked sweet for the end of the meal. Appetizers set the tone for everything to follow, and I must admit that my appetizers tend to be more dips than dainties. This roasted red pepper and garlic hummus is one dip that works well as a spread on toasted slices of bread. It's easy to put together, and looks a little bit fancy when served on a nice flowered plate. A few crostini with a green salad would make a nice vegetarian lunch, too.
Roasted red pepper and garlic hummus crostini
From the pantry, you'll need: extra-virgin olive oil, garlic, tahini, lime, chickpeas, cumin.
Makes 4 cups.
Ingredients
1 baguette or other long loaf of crusty bread
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil (optional)
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 Tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
2/3 cup tahini
2/3 cup water
4 cups canned chickpeas, drained (reserve 1/4 cup liquid)
1 whole roasted red pepper (I used fire-roasted, from a jar), finely diced, divided
1 Tbsp ground cumin
Kosher salt and fresh black pepper, to taste
English or mini-seedless cucumber, thinly sliced on the diagonal
Directions
Slice the bread 1/4-inch thick, on the diagonal, and place slices on a rimmed baking sheet. Toast under the broiler or on a grill until very lightly browned on both sides. If desired, brush the tops with olive oil. (I usually don't do this, to keep the calorie count down, but it does taste great if you do.) Set aside.
In a food processor fitted with a metal blade, process the garlic, lime juice and tahini until it turns into a smooth paste. Add the water, chickpeas, and half of the red pepper, and continue to process until mixture is almost fluffy. Add some of the reserved chickpea liquid, if necessary to achieve a light, spreadable consistency. Season with the cumin. Transfer to a bowl.
Stir the rest of the diced red pepper into the hummus. (At this point, you can refrigerate the hummus, covered, for several days.)
Spread hummus on each of the toasted bread slices, and top each with a slice of cucumber, if desired.
More recipes in The Perfect Pantry:
Lemon onion hummus
Chickpea falafel
Roasted chickpeas with garlic, cumin and paprika
Greek hummus with white beans and feta
White bean garlic dip
Other recipes that use these pantry ingredients:
Chickpea potato curry, from Simply Recipes
Chickpea soup with ginger and coriander, from Pincy My Salt
Parsley hummus with whole wheat pita chips, from Kalyn's Kitchen
Cabbagetown hummus, from David Lebovitz
Hummus en fuego, from 101 Cookbooks
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That looks just delicious! I'd love this for an appetizer, and in fact I could probably make a whole meal of it!
Love this! Sounds like a good lunch to me!
That sounds so yummy! I like the cucumber garnish. :)
So can you adjust the amounts of the ingredients so that this can be made in vat-sized portions cause my hubby would want to swim in it. YUM!
Kalyn, Maria: now I can admit that I ate the entire plate of these after I photographed them, and it was a perfect lunch!
Jenn, the cucumber adds a nice contrast, and you don't need any fancy decorating skills. I'm really not a good decorator.
Carol, all we need are your husbands vitals -- height, weight -- and between us we can upsize this recipe for him!
I must admit that I like to bring appetizers to any get together as well. Something like this would be perfect!!
Lydia, this is similar to a recipe I made last year except to make it all veggie and gluten free easily, I used the cucumbers on the bottom as the base instead of a baguette and topped the chickpeas with a tomato/onion or salsa mix. Mine was served cold, too. Yours does look yummy enough to make a girl want a gluten-free baguette though. :-)
Yum and I just bought a new jar of Tahini!
I like Shirley's idea of using the cucumber as the vehicle - helps keep it lighter and GF
Bellini, these would definitely travel well, and of course you can make the hummus ahead of time.
Shirley, Carol: I often used sliced cucumbers as the "bread", too. Or endive leaves or hearts of romaine lettuce.
These look outrageous! Such a pretty dish they are presented on.
Hummus is my go-to appetizer as well! I also like serving it with a variety of eating "vessels" -- pita chips, carrot sticks, radishes... Whatever's tasty, in season and easy to prep!
I made this last night for some Israel friends and it was a HUGE hit. They were at my house at different times so I know they liked it individually. One thought it came from a gourmet store. Thanks for the recipe!!
Maris, my husband Ted found this dish for me at an "antiques" store. I think these crostini do it proud.
Noshes, you can definitely use this hummus as a dip or a spread, with any type of dipper (red pepper strips would match perfectly!).
Susan, thanks so much for letting us know that your friends loved the recipe. I'm so glad they did.
wonderful breakfast treat :-) I absolutely love hummus and I love your version of it :-)
ah! this looks amazing and totally something I would eat!