Spicy Avocado Hummus {w/toasted pepitas}

I have a rating system for the recipes I share on my blog. Generally speaking, I don’t share anything that receives less than 4 apples these days though I used to share everything. If a recipe receives less than 4 apples it’s typically not going to be something I would make again unless I am hell bent on recreating a better version of it.

Most of the time when I share a recipe I’ve only tried it once because it’s good enough to share. I’m not a kitchen genius though I do think I’m pretty lucky at times. That being said, there are plenty of recipes in my draft folder (pictures and all) that I have not shared because I found them disappointing and/or not worth a second or third try.

This is one of those recipes I failed at the first time I made it but knew immediately I wanted to improve. It tasted devoid of avocado which defeats the purpose of avocado hummus in my opinion.

In the first version I used a medium-sized jalepeno pepper which was really all you could taste. The second time I made it I switched things up a bit. I used more avocado and swapped the jalapeño for serrano pepper. Serrano pepper is my go-to pepper for guacamole. I also added a shallot. I like to add shallot to guacamole so I figured shallot would work well here too.

For the hot sauce I like El Yucateco. The vibrant green habenero hot sauce works well in this recipe to turn up both the heat and the green color.

There are a ton of avocado hummus recipes out there when I was doing my research for this recipe. None of the ones I read seemed all that amazing so I borrowed and stole from several recipes and drew from my own experience in making guacamole to create this hummus recipe. I love avocado and I love white bean hummus so I wanted to make an amazing or nearly amazing recipe. This one fits the bill.

ingredients.

• 1 c. dried cannellini beans
• 2 medium avocados, seeded, peeled
• 1 Serrano pepper, chopped
• 1 T. minced fresh cilantro
• ½ lime, juiced (optional)
• 1 clove garlic, smashed
• 1 small shallot, smashed
• 1 tsp. kosher salt, plus extra for seasoning
• ¼ tsp. ground white pepper, plus extra for seasoning
• 6 to 8 oz avocado oil (or more if necessary)
• hot sauce, to taste
• avocado oil and toasted pepitas for garnish

directions.

1. Soak the beans overnight. Drain and rinse the beans and put into a medium-sized saucepan. Add six cups of water and a teaspoon of salt and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer about 1.5 to 2 hours or until tender. Drain and rinse beans with cold water.
3. Combine the beans, avocado, cilantro, lime juice (if using – I didn’t), serrano pepper, garlic, shallot, salt and pepper in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until the mixture is coarsely chopped. Gradually add the avocado oil until the mixture is creamy. Season with additional salt and pepper or hot sauce to taste.
4. Top with an additional drizzle of avocado oil and some toasted pepitas. Serve with tortilla chips, pita chips, crackers or your favorite crunchy veggies.

Note: To toast pepitas, cook in a saucepan over medium-high heat until they brown and start to pop/crackle.

I wasn’t totally thrilled with the taste of the hummus the second time I made this dish with the aforementioned changes. It tasted improved but not super avocado-y to me. I tossed around some changes with my sister. We figured that if I reduced the amount of beans in the recipe the avocado would become more prominent.

I didn’t have a chance to make those changes because a crazy thing happened overnight. OK it’s really not that crazy after all. Whenever I make hummus, I like to let it sit in the fridge for several hours (or overnight) to let the flavors meld. When I tried this hummus the day after I made it the flavors totally worked. It was a bit spicy and tasted a lot like guacamole to me without the tomatoes and had the texture of white bean hummus: purely smooth. It was exactly what I wanted.

Like guacamole, this hummus will turn brown the longer it sits in the fridge. Mine did.  You can press some saran wrap directly onto the top of the hummus and try to squeeze out any air pockets as the air is what oxidizes the avocado. I didn’t but should have. You can also throw some avocado pits in the bowl with the hummus like you can with guacamole and adding lime juice to the hummus should help a bit as well. I don’t add lime juice to guacamole so I didn’t here either.

Avocado isn’t super flavorful to me unless you add salt. Salt brings out the flavor in everything. Don’t shy away from adding lots of salt to this dish.

Recipe rating: 