Split pea hummus with leftover veg
Traditional hummus is made with chickpeas, but here at River Cottage we love making dippable purées with fresh vegetables too - even better when they're leftovers! Whip up a jar full to pop in your picnic basket and serve with crudités, warm garlicky flatbreads or pitta and salad leaves.
Preparation 10mins Cook time 30mins Servings 4
Ingredients
200g raw split peas
100–300g roasted roots, such as carrots or roast onion
Juice of 1 small lemon
2 tablespoons tahini
2 tablespoons olive or rapeseed oil, plus extra to finish
1–2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
½ teaspoon cumin seeds, bashed, or a good pinch of ground cumin, plus extra to finish (optional)
Good pinch of dried chilli flakes, plus extra to finish (optional)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Soak your split peas before cooking them - this can be for a minimum of an hour (but overnight is ideal). Discard the water they're soaked in and cover well with water in a pan and boil until tender (roughly 30 minutes). Once cooked, drain and let cool.
Finely chop your garlic then sprinkle with some fine salt and use the flat of the blade of the knife to squidge the garlic against the board, working backwards and forwards over the garlic creating a purée. Roughly chop your root veg and use the same method with the blade to squidge them into rough veg mash (chop any veg that won't mash into finer pieces).
Mix the split peas, veg, lemon juice, tahini, oil, garlic and cumin seeds together with a hand whisk until fairly smooth - whilst still leaving some character! If it’s too thick, thin with some hot water until you get the consistency you like.
Season to taste with salt and pepper. To serve, spoon the hummus into a jar if you're taking it on the go with you, or into a bowl to serve immediately. Trickle over some olive oil and enjoy!
Sealed in a container, this hummus keeps well in the fridge for up to a week.