Creamy Parsnip Hummus with Parsley
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Ingredients
  • For Tahini Sauce:
  • ¼ cup tahini (dark-roasted variety if available, or just regular tahini)
  • ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • ¾ teaspoon ground cumin
  • ¾ teaspoon chopped garlic (about 1 clove)
  • 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • For Parsnip Hummus:
  • 1 pound parsnips (about 6 medium or 4 large) peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
  • Water to cover; and reserve 1 Tablespoon water after parsnips are cooked
  • 1 Tablespoon chopped garlic (about 3 cloves)
  • ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 4 Tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
  • ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • ½ recipe of above tahini sauce
  • 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
  • Olive oil to drizzle, optional
  • Warm pita bread, to serve
Instructions
  1. Prepare tahini sauce: Place all tahini sauce ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside while preparing parsnip hummus.
  2. In a medium saucepan, cover the parsnips with water and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 20 minutes or until parsnips are very tender when pierced with a fork. Drain the parsnips in a colander reserving 1 Tablespoon of the cooking liquid.
  3. Transfer the parsnips to work bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Purée the parsnips with the 1 Tablespoon reserved cooking liquid, garlic, lemon juice, butter, olive oil, and cumin until smooth and creamy, for about 3 minutes, stopping to scrape the sides of the bowl a couple of times.
  4. Season the purée with salt and pepper. Spoon into a serving bowl and cool to room temperature. Using the back of a large spoon to create a well. Spoon ½ of the tahini sauce into the center of the well. You can also just stir it into the hummus. Drizzle with olive oil if desired (I love it that way!) and sprinkle with chopped parsley. Serve with warm pita bread, torn into pieces for dipping.
  5. Note: The recipe calls for using half of the tahini sauce. The rest can be saved for another batch. However, I found that the hummus tastes even better the next day, so I stirred in the other half of the tahini sauce the next day and it was delicious. Either way, it's wonderful!
Recipe by The Culinary Cellar at https://theculinarycellar.com/spice/