This umami-rich sweet potato humus is the very definition of comfort food. The good news is it is very healthy as well as delicious.
Prep Time:15 minutes
Cook Time:40 minutes
Total Time:55 minutes
Yield:4 - 6 servings 1x
Category:Dinner, Lunch, Appetizers
Cuisine:New American, Mediterranean
Ingredients
Scale
For the hummus:
1/2 pound sweet potato (one medium-sized), washed and pierced several times with a fork
1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 cup good olive oil
1 clove garlic
1/2 t ground cumin
2 – 3 T fresh lime juice
2 T tahini
1/4 t cayenne pepper
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
For the shallots:
1/4 pound shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
1 – 2 T olive oil
Pinch of kosher salt
For the topping:
3 – 4 T good quality olive oil
1 T hot chili oil
Slow-cooked shallots from above
1 t smoked Spanish paprika
2 – 3 T dukkah or finely chopped nuts, sesame seeds and cumin
Red pepper flakes
1 T chopped fresh parsley or thyme
Pinch of flakey salt
Instructions
For hummus:
Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Bake sweet potatoes until they pierce easily and deeply with a fork, about 40 minutes depending on the size of your sweet potato. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Once cool, remove the peel with your fingers.
While sweet potato is baking, place rinsed and drained garbanzo beans in a pot and cover with a couple inches of water. Add baking soda and bring to a boil. Turn heat down to medium low and cook for 20 minutes. Drain and set aside.
Whirl the garlic clove in a food processor until finely minced. Add baked and peeled sweet potato, drained and cooked garbanzo beans, cumin, lime juice, tahini, cayenne pepper, kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Whirl until smooth.
Scrape down the food processor and add 1/2 cup good quality olive oil and whirl for one minute. Add 1/4 cup of cold water and whirl for 5 minutes until smooth. Add additional water if needed.
When desired consistency is attained, scrape into a shallow bowl and using the back of a large spoon, swirl the top of the humus to create circular gullies to hold olive oil.
For the shallots:
While the sweet potato is baking, heat a skillet over medium-low heat and add 1 – 2 T olive oil. When the oil is hot stir in the sliced shallots and add a good pinch of kosher salt. Cook low and slow until shallots are soft and have picked up some color, about 20 minutes. Set aside.
For the topping:
Drizzle several tablespoons of olive oil into the gullies you made in the hummus and add some hot chili oil if you like a little heat. Sprinkle the shallots over the oil-drizzled humus and season with Spanish paprika, dukkah, red pepper flakes, chopped herbs and flakey salt. Serve with crudite and warm pita bread.
Notes
I start by adding 1/4 cup of water to this hummus and then check consistency and add a bit more if desired. Fresh hummus should be thinner than store bought so that it will coat a warm piece of pita nicely. Additionally, leftovers will thicken up when refrigerated. I often add a bit more water when serving the leftover hummus to recreate the original consistency.
This hummus is delicious served with triangles of warm pita, but is also good with an array of fresh crudités.