This month we’re celebrating one of our favourite mezze morsels – the humble hummus – after all, this Thursday marks one of our favourite days on the calendar, International Hummus Day. With a recipe straight from the Pogo kitchen we want you to celebrate right along with us and whip up some of our famous lamb hummus for you to enjoy. If cooking isn’t your game, we suggest you head on down, order up and let us take care of the rest.
Spiced Lamb Hummus, pine nuts, barberries, burnt lemon
Serves 4 or large plate as a mezze
Hummus
250gm Ord river chickpeas
1 tsp. Bicarb
120ml gm water
8 cloves garlic
125 gm Tahini
75 ml fresh lemon Juice
1.5 tsp Salt
50ml Olive oil + extra to serve
Soak the chickpeas overnight in 1.5lt of water and the bicarb- (The Bicarb helps soften the chickpeas meaning a smoother hummus)
The next day place chickpeas in a pot and bring to the boil.
Once boiling turn to a medium heat and skim the white scum of the top every ten minutes.
Chickpeas should take 40-60 minutes to cook- They need to be soft but not completely falling apart
While the chickpeas are cooking weigh out other ingredients.
Once chickpeas are cooked strain for 5-10 minutes but don’t let them go cold.
Whilst the chickpeas are still warm, place the cooked chickpeas in thermomix or blender with the water and blend as smooth as it will go, stop occasionally and scrape the sides with a spatula- This may need to be done in batches depending on the size of the you’re the blender. Once a semi smooth chickpea paste is formed, place in a bowl.
Add the garlic and lemon juice and blend to a paste then add half the tahini and blend till a thick mass forms, once smooth add the rest of the tahini and the rest of the water to thin. Finally add the chickpea paste back in and blend all together till a smooth hummus consistency is formed (you may need to add to a little more water)
Fold in the olive oil and salt and taste for seasoning.
Spiced lamb
¼ cup Olive oil
1/2 brown onion- Diced
3 cloves garlic
1/2 red chilli- Chopped
1 Tbsp chopped thyme
500 kg lamb mince
2 tbsp. Pomegranate Molasses
1 Tbsp Ras el hanout
1 Tsp. Smoked paprika
1/2 Tsp. Sea salt
Sweat onions in half the olive oil on medium heat for 5 minutes then add the garlic, chilli and thyme and cook for a further 2 minutes.
In a clean pan add more olive oil and the lamb mince and brown till all golden and starting to go crispy, then add the spices and cook on low for 2 minutes.
Add the cooked onion mix back into the fragrant lamb mince and stir in the pomegranate molasses and salt.
Garnish
Burnt Lemon cheeks– take a cheek of lemon and grill on the flesh side for 1 minute on a BBQ or hot fry pan
Fresh picked coriander
Barberries- Available from a middle eastern grocer or online (Can substitute with pomegranate)
Pine nuts– toasted lightly in the oven for 5 minutes at 170c
Plating
Place a nice, neat mound of the hummus in the middle of the plate and with the back of a spoon spread it out in a circular motion leaving a crater in the middle, pour in the spiced lamb mixture, making sure you get all the fragrant oil.
Garnish with barberries, Pine nuts and fresh coriander, neatly place the burnt lemon to the side to squeeze over everything.
Serve with Fresh pitta or any flatbread.
