Smoked Jalapeno Hummus

From the Ray Lampe’s Big Green Egg Cookbook

We eat a lot of store bought hummus so this recipe looked interesting when I came across it. I probably could have added more wood chips to the fire because it seemed like I ran out of smoke about halfway through, but this was still a great side dish to our Ham and Cheese Toasties. I could see this being a great dip for a party.

EGGcessories Needed

• ConvEGGtor
• Perforated Grid or Wok

Ingredients

• 3 cloves garlic, halved lengthwise
• 2 jalapeno chiles, halved lengthwise
• 1 (15 ounces) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 5 tablespoons olive oil, divided, plus more if needed
• Juice of ½ lime
• ¼ cup tahini
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves, plus more for garnish
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
• Pita chips, for serving

Directions

Prepare the Egg to cook indirect with a drip pan at 250° F with pecan wood added for smoke flavor.

Cut the garlic cloves and the chiles in half lengthwise.

Spray the perforated grid with vegetable cooking spray and place the garlic chiles on the prepared grid.

I use lard that I rubbed onto the wok with my finder. I find it works better than vegetable spray.

Place the grid in the Egg and smoke for 15 minutes.

Add the chickpeas to the perforated grid and cook for another 15 minutes.

So I learned something new with this recipe. Chickpeas and Garbanzo beans are the same thing!

Remove the grid from the Egg and set aside until all of the ingredients have cooled.

In a food processor fitted with the metal blade, combine the chiles, garlic, 4 tablespoons of the oil, the lime juice, the tahini, 2 tablespoons mint, salt, pepper, and cumin.

After I made my children crazy with the extremely loud and high pitched food processor (my 3-year-old kept saying “Daddy! No loud! No loud!”) my wife told me that she makes pesto in the blender and slowly adds the oil while it’s running. I’m trying this next time. The blender is easier on the ears.

Process for about 20 seconds, stopping and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed until the garlic and chiles are minced.

Add the chickpeas and process, stopping and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, for about 30 seconds, or until the hummus has a smooth but grainy consistency. If it’s too thick, add 1 to 2 more tablespoons oil.

I added 2 more tablespoons of oil, but I like a creamier hummus. Your tastes will dictate how much oil you add.

Transfer the hummus to a serving bowl and smooth the surface. Drizzle the remaining 1 tablespoon oil over the top. Garnish with a little mint and serve with pita chips.

This was part of a side for our dinner so I used carrots instead of pita chips for dipping.