Roasted Squash Hummus

Squash is still about, these things ripen in the autumn and then are virtually indestructible in storage for several months.  It’s brilliant getting a squash in the veg box, because it will normally become the basis of at least 2 family meals, and depending on the size, maybe other sides and soups along the way… This is the sort of food we may all be eating after some sort of armageddon. I can imagine the weary survivors opening up large ware houses packed full of grain, dried pulses and mountains of squash.  We’ll need some decent cookery skills to see the remains of the human race through the devastation.  So lets get some practice in, and make roasted squash hummus now, I’m not sure where we’ll find the lemons from though!

This twist on classic hummus has a lovely natural sweetness – which my children particularly love.  To make things easier, you can simply roast the squash and garlic alongside other things when you’re making an evening meal, and then keep them in the fridge (for a couple of days) for when you are ready and able to process the hummus.

• 250g of raw squash (52p)
• 5 cloves of garlic (25p)
• 4 tbsp of olive oil (2 for roasting, 2 for blending) (40p)
• 250g of cooked chickpeas (85p)
• 2tbsp of tahini (25p)
• the juice of 1/2 – 1 whole lemon (50p)
• 100ml-200ml of water
• salt and black pepper

Heat the oven to 200 degrees c.

Roast the garlic with it’s skin on and then pop the soft cloves out of their jackets before processing.

Cut the squash into cubes or large wedges, and roast in the oven with 2 tbsps of oil and the whole unpeeled cloves of garlic for around 25 minutes.

When you are ready to make the Hummus, put all of the ingredients, except the water and seasoning into the food processor (peel the roasted garlic first) and process for a minute.  Scrape the hummus back down the sides of the bowl to incorporate all the ingredients evenly and then dribble the water into the running food processor until you have achieved the desire consistency for your hummus.  

After the first minute it will look like this…

… Then with water added for a creamy consistency.

Add the salt and pepper to taste at this point and maybe more lemon juice if you feel it needs more zing.

Served here with a drizzle of olive oil and some chilli salt, this went down well as a mid morning snack for the small people.  It was gone in seconds.

This recipe make about 600g of hummus, which is about 3 small tubs worth which can be refrigerated or frozen.  The ingredients come to £2.77, which means that each tub of hummus works out at just 92p.  You’d find it difficult to match that in the supermarket, even without quality organic ingredients.  And this is so simple, and easy to store, why not make a double batch and have several tubs in waiting for when you need them.