Wednesday Eats and Treats: St. Patrick's Day Fresh Basil Hummus

I took this to a St. Patrick's Day celebration on Saturday. It received rave reviews, even by non-hummus eaters. The recipe is here, and you can see a video on how to prepare it here.

To avoid a gritty texture, it is essential that hummus is blended until it is smooth. Even though I have a super-sonic blender, I found I had to add extra oil and lemon juice to get the mixture to blend. I did this in a 1:3 lemon juice to oil ratio. Don't be surprised if you have to double the recipe amounts of oil and lemon juice.

WARNING: Unless you are purposely trying to burn up the motor on your blender, do not attempt to double this recipe. It must be made in individual batches. 

Chef John's Green Hummus

Rated: Submitted By: Chef John Photo By: Chef John Prep Time: 10 Minutes Ready In: 10 Minutes Servings: 6

"This simple, basil-spiked 'green' hummus is a great summer twist on everyone's favorite spread."

INGREDIENTS:

1/3 cup firmly packed fresh basil leaves 4 cloves garlic, chopped 1 tablespoon lemon juice, or to taste 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained 1 (15 ounce) can white beans, drained salt and ground black pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Bring a large pot of water to a boil; add the basil and cook uncovered until bright green, about 20 seconds. Immediately plunge basil in ice water until cold. Squeeze basil to remove excess moisture and pat dry with a paper towel.
2.	Put basil, garlic, lemon juice, 1 tablespoon olive oil, garbanzo beans, and white beans, salt, and black pepper, respectively, in a blender. Cover and blend until almost smooth; add remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil and puree until smooth.

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