Take your hummus to the next level by adding Kalamata olives – the saltiness of the olives along with the brine gives the plain hummus an extraordinary make over
I fell in love with hummus about three or four years ago (?).
At first, I thought hummus can’t be more exciting. I thought: having a bread on the side, some veggies and scrambled egg would keep me love the old, plain hummus like no other.
The good thing with hummus – when you have the basic recipe, you can add whatever you fancy. I have tried with roasted red bell peppers and it was amazing! I have also tried this Gochujang Hummus – oh my! It was really good!!
So it happened that I had kalamata olives and I don’t know what to do with them (I only eat olives when they are in pizza). I had to look for recipes and this caught my attention. Again, I was like, ‘Why I haven’t thought of that?‘
You know what happened next – I took my food processor to do its job. I used the same Easy Microwave Hummus recipe I have on the blog and added chopped kalamata olives along with its brine.
Thanks for the inspiration, Christine!
Oh my! This Kalamata Olive Hummus is so good I could eat the whole thing in one go! The saltiness of the olives and that brine – it is extraordinary! If you are a hummus lover, you’d definitely love this twist! Trust me coz I really did!
I am taking this with me at Fiesta Friday # 200. No co-hosts for this week, so we will come back on Tuesday to vote for our favorite recipes. 😀 Thanks to our lovely Angie for hosting! Happy Fiesta Friday, people!
Kalamata Olive Hummus
Ingredients:
- 1 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained, water reserved (optional: you can reserve 1 heaping tbsp for serving later)
- 1/3 cup Kalamata olives, chopped
- 1/2 – 1 tbsp olive brine
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1/3 – 1/2 cup tahini
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- Salt, to taste
- 1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
To serve (optional):
- Olive oil
- Few pieces chickpeas
- Paprika
- Roughly chopped parsley
Instructions:
- Separate the chickpeas and its water. Reserve the chickpeas water for later.
- In a bowl, place your drained chickpeas and remove the skins by taking pieces with both of your hands and rubbing them together. You will notice that the skins with be removed easily and float, then you can easily discard/pour out the water along with the skins.
- Wash the skinned chickpeas and drain.
- Place the chickpeas in a heatproof bowl and put back the reserved chickpeas water.
- Add the garlic cloves and microwave for 4-5 minutes. Let cool.
- In a food processor or blender, add in the microwaved chickpeas with garlic along with chopped Kalamata olives, brine, lemon juice, salt and tahini. While the food processor/blender is mixing, add olive oil. Process until smooth and creamy, scraping down the sides as needed. Adjust the seasoning at this point, if desired.
- Transfer to container and place in the fridge to thicken up and develop flavor.
- To serve, drizzle more olive oil, pitted Kalamata olives, chickpeas, roughly chopped parsley and paprika. Serve with your favorite crackers, veggies or pita bread.
Note: Skinning the chickpeas is totally optional. You may start with 1/3 cup tahini and add as needed.
Also sharing at
