Hummus with Roasted Red Pepper

Easy roasted red pepper hummus recipe with sweet red bell peppers, chickpeas, garlic, and tahini. This recipe is simple to make and makes hummus that's so much better than store-bought. When we first figured out how to make our own hummus, we were shocked at how easy (and fast) it is. With just a few simple tricks, you really can make creamy smooth hummus at home. Plus, since it really is so easy, we love adding extra flavour like sweet roasted red peppers. Two things here. First, we use canned chickpeas, which is much, much quicker than using dried. Some swear by soaking and cooking their own dried chickpeas, but we're just not that organized and love that canned chickpeas means we can enjoy our hummus in 10 minutes. Second, our recipe calls for tahini, a creamy paste made from sesame seeds. You can usually find tahini in larger grocery stores or specialty markets, or you can actually make it at home.

2 whole red bell peppers (substitute about ¾ cup chopped jarred roasted red peppers)
1 (15 oz) can chickpeas or 1½ cups cooked chickpeas (250 g)
¼ cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed (60 mL)
¼ cup tahini (60 mL)
1 small clove garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
½ tsp. ground cumin
1 pinch ground cayenne pepper (optional)
2-3 Tbsp. water or aquafaba (30-45 mL)
sea salt

Roast the Peppers:
Move an oven rack so that it is about 5" from the broiler. Turn oven broiler on.

Remove core of peppers then cut into large flat pieces. Arrange pepper pieces, skin-side up, on a baking sheet. Broil 5-10 minutes until the peppers skin has charred.

Add peppers to a resealable plastic bag, seal then wait 10-15 minutes until cool enough to handle. Or, add peppers to a bowl then cover with plastic wrap and wait 10-5 minutes. Gently peel away the charred pepper skin and discard. Reserve 1-2 pieces of the peeled roasted pepper pieces to use as a garnish when serving then roughly chop the rest.

Make the Hummus:
In the bowl of a food processor, combine the tahini and lemon juice and process for 1 minute, scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl then process for 30 seconds more. This extra time helps "whip" or "cream" the tahini, making the hummus smooth and creamy.

Add the olive oil, minced garlic, cumin, and a ½ tsp. of salt to the whipped tahini and lemon juice. Process for 30 seconds, scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl then process another 30 seconds or until well blended.

Open, drain, and rinse the chickpeas. Add half of the chickpeas to the food processor and process for 1 minute. Scrape sides and bottom of the bowl, then add remaining chickpeas and process until thick and quite smooth; 1-2 minutes.

Add the roasted peppers and continue to process for 1-2 minutes or until smooth. If the hummus is too thick or still has tiny bits of chickpea, with the food processor turned on, slowly add 1-3 Tbsp. of water or aquafaba until you are happy with the consistency.

Taste for salt and adjust as needed. Finely chop the reserved peppers. Spoon hummus into a bowl, make a small well in the middle and add the chopped peppers. Store homemade hummus in an airtight container and refrigerate up to one week.

Makes 6 servings or approximately 1½ cups.

Cook's Notes:

• How to Cook Chickpeas: You can use canned or home-cooked chickpeas for this recipe. To see how we cook dried chickpeas, see our simple tutorial here. We have included three methods including how to do it in a slow cooker.
• Aquafaba is the starchy liquid in a can of beans (or the bean cooking liquid). You can use this instead of water in the last step of the recipe. Before using, taste the liquid to see how salty it is. If it is salty, consider holding some of the salt called for in the ingredient list back, and then season to taste after adding the aquafaba.