Pumpkin Hummus | A Fall Recipe

Fall is one of my favorite seasons. I love summer too. Now that I think of it, I don’t mind winter all that much. Actually, that is not entirely true. I only love the holidays and the snow in winter. And here in Seattle, winter does not always mean snow. Spring is ok. It takes you closer to summer and days start getting longer, but the uncertainty of when the warm sunny days will start is a huge issue for us Seattleites. Some years we are lucky and April is a great month. Other times, not so much. Come July and it is still gloomy and rainy.

I look forward to fall. Especially on years like this when we have a had a really good summer and I feel I have done enough in summer and I am ready for fall. Ready for boots. Ready for falling leaves. Ready for all things orange. Ready for pumpkin spice. Ready to welcome the holidays.

Fall food is something I really look forward to. All the squashes and pumpkins and apples and pears. I love the natural sweetness of squash and love to roast, sauté, bake, squish, squash and soup it! This time I added some pumpkin to my regular hummus recipe and made this gorgeously beautiful looking pumpkin hummus that is equally vibrant in taste. It gives that touch of sweetness to the hummus and like AJ said, makes it sort of a “light” hummus. Try it this fall and you will not be disappointed.

My only problem with making hummus is that I rarely have tahini at home and even if I buy some to make hummus, I don’t use all of it and most of it eventually gets wasted. I read somewhere about adding some toasted sesame oil instead of tahini to get the taste. The only thing you will miss is the slight extra creaminess that tahini brings to the hummus. But with this recipe the pumpkin puree takes care of that creaminess. I loved the addition of sesame oil to my hummus. Hope you do too.

Pumpkin Hummus – The Recipe

Ingredients

1. Garbanzo beans – 1 can
2. Pumpkin Puree (not pumpkin pie filling) – 1 can
3. Garlic – 3 cloves
4. Powdered Cumin – ½ tsp
5. Toasted Sesame Oil – ½ tsp
6. Olive Oil – 2 to 3 tbsp + 1 tbsp
7. Salt and fresh ground black pepper – ½ tsp each
8. Ground Paprika – ¼ tsp
9. Ground Nutmeg – ¼ tsp

Instructions

1. Drain and wash the garbanzo beans well.
2. Puree the garbanzo beans, garlic, sesame oil, cumin and olive oil together in a blender till smooth.
3. Add the salt, black pepper and pumpkin puree. Grind again till it is all mixed well together.
4. Transfer to a serving bowl and top with the 1 tbsp olive oil, paprika and nutmeg.