As a big fan of hummus, I’m always looking for new recipes to try out, and after stumbling upon Nigella Lawson’s recipe that replaces tahini with peanut butter, I just knew I had to give it a try. This recipe was first shared in Nigella’s 2010 recipe book Kitchen, and was then re-shared on her website.
Introducing the recipe, Nigella quips that it’s not the most ‘elegant’ sounding dish, but despite this, it is certainly an elegant dish. And I will certainly be making this hummus again when hosting guests. This recipe was super easy to make, and just required combing all the ingredients in a blender.
While the recipe called for Greek yoghurt, I opted for a plant-based version, which worked just as well as using a regular yoghurt. This meant that rather than having to eat all the hummus myself I was able to share it with my vegan partner, and friends.
Although the hummus didn’t taste quite as nutty as I was expecting from the name and the quantity of peanut butter used, it was still quite delicious and is well one its way to becoming my go-to recipe when making hummus.
The only real drawback of this recipe was the cleanup of the blender and the rest of my kitchen afterwards.
Ingredients
- 800g chickpeas (two cans)
- One garlic clove, peeled
- 60 ml of olive oil
- Six tablespoons of smooth peanut butter
- Three tablespoons of fresh lemon juice
- Two teaspoons of Maldon sea salt flakes, or one teaspoon of pouring salt
- Two teaspoons of ground cumin
- Four or five tablespoons of Greek yoghurt (plant-based or dairy)
- Two tablespoons of peanuts, finely chopped
- One teaspoon of smoked paprika
Method
Start by draining and rinsing the chickpeas. Place the garlic clove, chickpeas, three tablespoons oil, peanut butter, lemon juice, salt and cumin into a food processor and blitz until you have a knobbly purée.
Then add four tablespoons of the Greek yoghurt and process again. If the hummus is still quite thick, add another spoonful of yoghurt and olive oil. Nigella notes that this often depends on the chickpeas, as different sorts make the hummus thicker or not.
Taste and add more lemon juice and/or salt, if needed.
Prior to serving, mix the chopped peanuts with the paprika. Then sprinkle on top of the hummus.