Hummus (Vegan)

I know some people think that life's too short to make their own hummus, but it it's really easy to make.

If you like super-smooth hummus, you need a decent food processor, but it's way cheaper than shop bought and tastes just as good, if not better! Look out for cheap chickpeas in the world food aisle of you local supermarket, or save even more money by soaking and cooking dried chickpeas.

• 1 tin of chickpeas, drained
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• Grated zest and juice of ½ a lemon
• 3 tbsp light tahini paste
• A good pinch each of ground black pepper, cumin and paprika (or more to taste)
• 2-4 tbsp extra lemon juice or boiled water to thin, if needed 

Empty the chickpeas into a blender/food processor. Add all the rest of the ingredients and start to blend.
Stop every few seconds and stir the mixture. Add some extra liquid, if needed.
Repeat until you have the consistency you like.
Chill until needed and serve with warm pitta bread.

Suitable for freezing.

Alternatives: You can make hummus with just about any pulses, such as cannellini beans, butter beans or haricot beans. You will generally need to add less liquid, as these beans are softer than chickpeas.
Swap the lemon zest for other flavourings such as sun-dried tomatoes, chilli, roasted peppers etc.

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