It’s not often I have a cooking nightmare. Perhaps because I stick to familiar ingredients and styles of cooking. And tried and tested recipes. But this week things didn’t go quiet according to plan in the kitchen. That’s because while making the simplest of hummus recipes I let my mind wander a little too much.

So what happened? Well I was drinking a glass of green tea from a tall glass tumbler. Alongside the green tea, on my kitchen bench, was the parsnip ‘stock’ I’d reserved to loosen the hummus. The stock was in exactly the same type of tall glass tumbler. You can see where this is going. By mistake, whilst blending the hummus, I poured in the green tea. After a mild panic I continued blending convinced it would still be delicious. My optimism paid off and the end result carried no trace of the green tea. Here I’m sharing the recipe, minus the unplanned green tea infusion.

Here in Australia the parsnip season is now pretty much over until next year – this hummus was my farewell to parsnips until 2017. But I’m hoping the timing works well for my readers in the Northern Hemisphere who, with Winter fast approaching, should soon have a good supply of parsnips.

This hummus is creamy, full of flavour and easy to prepare. It’s vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free. I’d love to hear your verdict and of course any of your own memorable kitchen nightmares……

Creamy parsnip hummus

Ingredients

• 500g-600g parsnips
• 2 tbsp tahini (unhulled if possible)
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 2-3 garlic cloves
• Juice of one lemon
• 2-3 tbsp olive oil
• Salt & pepper
• 150-250ml parsnip stock (or water)
• Chilli flakes/powder (optional)

Method

1. Wash and chop the parsnips into cubes. I kept the skin on due to the high fibre content but you may prefer to peel off the skin.
2. Add the parsnips to a saucepan of cold water – adding just enough water to cover the parsnips.
3. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook until the parsnips are just soft enough to be blended (but not so soft they are mushy).
4. Once cooled, add the remaining ingredients and blend into a hummus.
5. The success of this hummus is all about the creamy, light texture, so add a little more water, lemon juice and/or olive oil to achieve this.
6. Season to taste and serve with another drizzle of olive oil and perhaps some chilli flakes.

Laura, Feast Wisely

You may also like:

• Artichoke & spinach dip
• Blue cheese & pumpkin dip (GF)
• Sweet potato hummus (GF)