Italian Hummus

My wife hates garbanzo beans, so hummus is generally a non-starter. Saw this variation and thought, “That might be good.” It’s very good. Tweaked a lot from the original as it lacked acidity.

Italian Hummus

A creamy, garlicky hummus-variation using cannellini beans
Prep Time10 minutes
Chilling Time2 hours

Equipment

  • 1 Food processor

Ingredients

  • 1 15 oz can 15oz can cannellini beans
  • 1 lemon, zested
  • 1 lemon, juiced
  • 3 sprigs Italian parsley (+/-) (see notes)
  • 4-5 basil leaves (+/-) (see notes)
  • 2 cloves garlic, mashed (+/-)
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil (up to 1 tablespoon more)
  • Kosher Salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • Crushed Red Pepper (optional)

Instructions

  • Drain and rinse the beans. Add to a food processor.
  • Zest the lemon then cut in half and juice.
  • Add the remaining ingredients and pulse until smooth, scraping down the sides as necessary.
  • If too thick, add the additional 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
  • Taste and adjust seasonings. (I added probably ½ teaspoon of salt and ½ teaspoon of pepper total.)
  • If desired, add the crushed red pepper flakes.
  • Chill for 1 to 2 hours before serving. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.

Notes

  • If you have Calabrian Chili Flakes, these work well here to add a bit of kick.
  • On my second attempt I used 4-5 basil leaves and it really worked well.  Garlicky, basily, creamy.  And, let’s face it: Italian Parsley really doesn’t do much of anything.
  • Thinking that if you made this with red kidney beans at Halloween that’d be quite a look.
  • I used this in place of a mayonnaise on a sandwich this week.  Awesome.
Italian Hummus
Italian Hummus

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