Today I was in a snacky mood so I decided to make one of my favorite snacks from scratch: garlic hummus and pita bread.
Hummus is so delicious. I can eat an entire tub of it in one sitting. Homemade garlic hummus = out of this world and I won't be surprised if I eat the entire batch I just made before finishing this post!
I've never made pita bread before -- and I was itching to use my pizza stone again -- so after reading through different recipes, I decided on this one.
Hummus is really easy to make, which makes me wonder why I don't make it more often. It's a blend of chickpeas, tahini, garlic, olive oil and lemon juice. The nice thing about making it at home is you can adjust the seasonings to your liking and make it it as lemony, tahini-y or garlicky as you want. I'm addicted to garlic so I went heavy on the stuff. Let's just say, vampires won't be a-knocking at my door tonight :)
And, boy oh boy, the pita bread. WOW. I'm so glad I tried this recipe! It knocks store-bought pita's socks off. I don't know if I'll ever buy pita again. Like any yeast bread, you have to let the dough rise for at least an hour, so this might be a good recipe to try on the weekend when you have more time. With that being said, I strongly urge you to make the pita bread. It is so good, especially when it's hot, right out of the oven. I can think of few foods in life better than fresh, hot bread.
Peace and love --
~Jo
Garlic hummus
Makes about 4 cups
2 cups chickpeas, drained (reserve the liquid to use when blending)
3/4 cup tahini
6 cloves garlic (use less/more depending on your affinity to garlic)
1 1/2 lemons, juiced
Salt and pepper to taste
Combine chickpeas, tahini, garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a food processor, adding the chickpea liquid until pureed.
Add more lemon juice, garlic, tahini and salt and pepper until desired taste is met.
Drizzle with olive oil and serve.
Pita bread
Adapted from this recipe
Makes 9 pitas
4 cups flour
1 packet active, dry yeast
1 1/4 cup warm water, plus another 1/4 for yeast mixture
1 tablespoon sugar, plus 1/2 teaspoon sugar for yeast mixture
2 tablespoons olive oil
Prepare yeast mixture. Dissolve 1 packet of active, dry yeast into 1/4 cup of water and add sugar to activate.
In a large bowl, add flour, salt, 1 tablespoon sugar, and oil and mix well. If dough is too sticky, add more flour, 1/2 cup at a time until you can form the dough into a ball.
Knead dough for 5 minutes. Place dough into an oiled bowl, rolling the dough around so it's well oiled, and cover with a damp towel. Let rise for 90 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. If you're using a pizza stone, make sure it's in the oven so that it preheats, too.
Once the dough has doubled in size, punch a hole in the middle to release trapped air. Divide the dough into nine equal balls and place on a cutting board. Cover dough balls with another damp towel and let rest for 20 minutes.
On a lightly floured surface, roll each piece of dough into circles, about 1/4" thick.
Place 3-4 doughs on a pizza stone at a time (or a rimmed baking sheet turned upside down) and cook for about 5 minutes.
Serve warm with hummus and resist the temptation to eat all of them. It will be tough not to ;)
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