Home-made hummus

Thorndon now has a farmer's market so I went along on Saturday to have a look. It'd been well publicised so they'd pulled a big crowd. There was a good turnout from stallholders too though there weren't many I'd buy from regularly - several sold things like juices/cordials, jams, olive oil etc - stuff you might buy once but not every week. There were a few good vegetable stalls so I picked up some bits and pieces for dinner that night, along with a loaf of one of my favourite breads - Simply Paris walnut loaf. Simply Paris seemed to be having a good morning - they'd completely sold out of pastries by 10am and were one of the few stalls with a queue.

I made some roasted garlic hummus to have with the walnut bread. It's a pretty rough recipe - you really just start with chickpeas and add everything else to taste. It doesn't have any tahini in it because I never have any in the fridge! But if you had some you could add a tablespoon or two. You could also use a clove or two of garlic instead of half a roasted head but I like the milder flavour of roasted garlic - sometimes raw garlic tastes a bit too sharp.

Roasted garlic hummus

1 can of chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
1/2 head of roasted garlic
juice of one small lemon
olive oil

Wrap the head of garlic in foil and bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 45 minutes to an hour. Cool and cut the top off and squeeze out the garlic. Use about half and keep the rest in the fridge in an airtight container covered with a layer of oil.

Put the chickpeas into the food processor with the garlic, pulse for a few seconds. Add the lemon juice and enough oil in a slow stream until the hummus is the consistency you like.