Make wild garlic houmous
Wild garlic is sprouting up everywhere at the moment and it’s perfect to use instead of ordinary garlic to make houmous. It adds a really fresh flavour and an amazing bright green colour. It’s also incredibly easy and quick to make which is always a bonus!
What you will need:
50 g wild garlic
1 tin of chickpeas (drained)
2 tbs tahini
2 tbs olive oil plus extra for drizzling
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1-2 tbs of the water from the tin of chickpeas (or water) to loosen the mix
Salt to taste
Spices (optional) - cumin, paprika and ground coriander all work well!
Chilli flakes or red pepper flakes to garnish
First you’ll need to collect your wild garlic leaves. I’ve written about how to identify and pick wild garlic in this wild garlic butter blog post.
Wash the wild garlic well and pat dry. It’s easier on your blender or food processor if you roughly chop the wild garlic but I had an over-eager child helping!
Drain the chickpeas reserving a little of the water (aquafaba) from the tin.
Put the chickpeas, wild garlic, tahini, olive oil and lemon juice and salt into a blender and blitz until smooth. If you’re using any additional spices, you can add them before you blend - 1/4-1 tsp of each to taste.
You might need to stop your blender and scrape the houmous mixture from the sides into the middle a few times to make sure it blends well. If the mixture is looking a bit too thick, you can add a tablespoon or two of the chickpea water you put aside earlier to help loosen it.
Transfer your houmous to a bowl, drizzle with a little olive oil and sprinkle on some red pepper or chilli flakes.
Serve with bread, crudités and other snacky bits for a springtime meze feast. Yum!
This wild garlic houmous will keep in the fridge for about 4 days in a covered container or jar. The drizzle of olive oil on top helps to stop it drying out. You can also freeze it - just defrost in the fridge overnight and mix well before serving. We haven’t yet managed to not eat it all in one go though….!
Author: Denise Hope, home educating mum of two boys