I absolutely love to make hummus. In the deep, dark depths of my rural Wisconsin grocery stores, though, I can only find 16 ounce bags of chickpeas! Which drives me nuts. Because you can only make about one batch of hummus with that. I'm used to buying chickpeas in bulk and a single pound is an entirely inadequate quantity. So, perpetually being out of chickpeas, paying too much for a small quantities of chickpeas, and having much cheaper and copious amounts of white beans? I have now endeavored to make white bean and roasted tomatoes hummus.
White beans are a lot easier to make than chickpeas. They come in several different varieties all with slightly different cooking times and techniques. So, make sure to pay attention to what kind of beans that you use. Otherwise, you can easily swap out whatever white beans of choice for this recipe! I used navy beans because during peak coronavirus lockdown they were fantastically on sale.
When I decided to make hummus, I was also debating over what I should do with tomatoes. When they ripen in the garden, you only have so long to use them before they fall off or just go bad on the vine! I'd only once before made white bean hummus, but it's an easy enough concept. And I'd never made roasted tomato hummus. But how difficult could it really be?? It turns out not very.
Gallery
This is the first time that I've attempted to make this recipe with cherry tomatoes. So, I wasn't entirely sure how many to use and roasted them in batches! I ended up with about 15 cherry tomatoes in total. Which is why you see this twice.
Also, it's an incredibly hot and humid day. It's been in the 90s with torrential downpour-level humidity for the last week. So, while adding ice has made the hummus incredibly smooth! It has also melted and watered down to the point of looking like soup. Don't worry if this happens to you as well. It will re-solidify slightly when chilled.
Variations of Roasted Tomatoes Hummus
I am a big fan of hummus. There are a number of different varieties and ingredients to mix in and out. All that you really need is tahini, olive oil, and some kind of citrus or other acidic ingredient. The go-to is chickpeas and lemons, but the sky is the limit here! You can mix and match in your own flavor profiles.
This roasted tomato hummus combines white navy beans, cherry tomatoes, lemons, garlic, tahini, olive oil, cumin, salt, and crushed ice. Feel free to mix and match in your own ingredients of choice. I often make this kind of recipe with squash or peppers, instead of tomatoes. A lot of other white beans also cook fairly quickly. They're a great bean to quick soak or just boil straight out. Dried beans are also going to have a much better taste and texture than canned beans.
Add white beans to a large pot and cover with a couple inches of water.
Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer.
Simmer for about an hour and 20 minutes, or until tender. You may need to add more water as it simmers down and occasionally adjust the temperature to keep them from boiling.The beans should still keep their shape and not turn to mush. But theoretically putting a fork in them would split them in half.
Drain the beans immediately after cooking.
Roast Tomatoes
Place the tomatoes in an air fryer. Roast for about 8 minutes, or until the skin has lightly charred and begun to blacken.
Remove the tomatoes from heat and let cool enough to handle.
Make Hummus
Add beans, tomatoes, lemon juice, garlic, tahini, olive oil, cumin, and salt to a high powered blender or food processor. Blend until mixture forms a smooth paste and you can no longer see pieces of beans.
Add crushed ice and blend for 2-4 more minutes. This is entirely optional, but the rapid cooling helps with the texture.If you don't have crushed ice, you can also add ice water or olive oil, 1 tablespoon at a time. The exact consistency differs slightly depending on how much the chickpeas have absorbed water during the simmering process. Even if you cook them perfectly, the age of the chickpeas can still be a variable. If they're too thick, just add a little bit more liquid!
Once a smooth, consistent texture has been achieved, remove and chill before serving. I usually chill for about an hour. This is optional as well, but warm beans aren't exactly what we tend to think of when we look to hummus!
Tips, Tricks, & Notes
For more information on hummus, I have an article on The Fundamentals of Making Hummus. This includes the chickpea versus garbanzo bean debate, canned versus dried chickpeas, and types of food processors and puréeing that work best (and least best).
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