Simple Homemade Hummus on Easy Homemade Sourdough: Best Comfort Snack Ever
I can’t honestly say that a homemade hummus recipe was included in the box of recipes I got from my grandmother. That said, it did contain a very easy sourdough that I recently got the nerve to try out for the first time (no idea why I’ve been too scared to do it until now).
Having tried both recipes within the same couple of days, it was inevitable that the homemade hummus recipe would end up on my homemade sourdough recipe…and it’s one of the best things ever!
My Favorite Comfort Food Snack of 2021 So Far
I like different kinds of dips. An easy homemade hummus recipe always has lots of appeal to me because it sounds a lot more complicated than it is. The thing about me is that I am not a fan of raw veggie snacks in the winter.
In the summer, I could eat them all day long. In the winter, it’s a completely different story! They’re too cold! I want something that makes me feel warm in my belly, not something I’ll want to wear gloves to eat so my fingertips don’t go numb.
So, I recently tried out a new easy homemade hummus recipe, which I tweaked to my taste. The problem was that I live alone in a lockdown, so it’s not as though I could have a lot of people over to help consume it all. I shared a dish of it with a neighbor, but I was still left with a ton.
My natural solution? Put it on toast! I’ll spread virtually any thick dip onto toast in order to use it up, and this time – unlike many others – it tasted great!
The secret was that I spread it on sourdough bread toast!
Since these two foods must be eaten together, I’m including both recipes. Since I have a bread machine, that’s the type of recipe I’m including for the sourdough bread. That said, the starter sure doesn’t need a bread machine, and I’m pretty sure you could just mix together the ingredients, knead them by hand and bake the bread in the oven. I just don’t have that kind of patience…or upper body strength!
My Delicious and Easy Homemade Hummus Recipe
Ready? You can make this whole thing in 5 minutes.
Ingredients
· 1 can (540ml/15oz) chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained
· 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (the better the quality, the better the taste)
· 1 tbsp lemon juice (use the real thing. You can thank me later)
· 1 garlic clove, minced
· ¾ tsp ground cumin
· ½ tsp salt
· 2 to 4 tbsp water (depending on the consistency you want – I use 2 tbsp)
Instructions
Add everything to a food processor, starting with 2 tbsp of water. I have made this work in a NutriBullet, but I needed to add more water than I usually would. A food processor works best if you have one, even if it’s one of the little hand cranked Starfrit ones (which is what I use…because electric food processors are huge and expensive!). Keep going until the ingredients are thoroughly combined and they’re smooth and creamy. Add more water if you need to thin it down. I personally like it very thick, especially if I’m spreading it on toast.
Store, covered, in the refrigerator. Give it at least a half hour to sit and chill to bring out the flavors. That said, it’s even better the next day!
My Grandmother’s Simple Sourdough Bread Recipe (with starter)
I’ve adapted this recipe for my bread machine because there is no way I’d make it more than once – if ever – if I had to knead the dough all the time. I’m trying to be realistic here. That said, if you’re cooler than me and you get your strength training and cardio in the kitchen, go for it!
How to Make a Sourdough Starter
Essentially, it’s a matter of combining equal parts water and flour. I like to use yeast to give it a kickstart, so it’s ready faster. Then it’s a matter of letting it do its thing until you’re tending a living friend…whom you will eat. I should have thought that analogy through before writing it…
Ingredients
· 2 cups of warm water
· 2 cups all-purpose flour
· 2 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast
In a large (much larger than you’d think!) non-metal bowl (I use glass), gently but thoroughly combine the ingredients. Loosely cover the bowl and let it ferment for 4 days to a week. Stir it several times per day.
You’ll know when it’s ready because it will have “calmed down” but will still be bubbly and will have a sour smell that is actually quite nice.
Once it’s ready to use, store it in the refrigerator and stir it daily.
Important note:
Initially, it will grow very large, even after you stir it down. If your bowl isn’t big enough, it will spill over onto the counter. Also, if you choose to cover it with a tea towel, make sure that you’re covering a huge bowl so the starter won’t touch the towel. I have yet to figure out how to get that stuff off the towel and have now had to toss 2 otherwise perfectly good tea towels. Never throw a tea towel into your washing machine if it has sourdough starter on it. Otherwise, all your favorite clothes will have tiny, rock-hard bits of dough stuck all over them, and you’ll spend hours finding them and picking them off…not that this happened to me. It happened to…uh…a friend…
If your sourdough starter turns any other color aside from white or beige – orange, dark brown, pink, for instance – throw it out. It’s not good anymore.
Easy Basic Sourdough Bread Recipe (for bread machine)
You won’t need to use all your sourdough starter to make this recipe, leaving some left that you can “feed” with 2/3 cup water and 2/3 cup all-purpose flour (combined, then stirred in with the leftover starter) to keep it going so you won’t have to wait a week before you can make your next loaf. In this way, you can keep your starter alive over time and make as many loaves as you want.
Ingredients
· 1 1/3 cups sourdough starter (active and at room temperature)
· 4 teaspoons of very warm water (not hot and definitely not boiling)
· 4 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil (the best quality you can get)
· 1 ½ teaspoons sugar
· 1 teaspoon salt
· 1 2/3 cups white bread flour (if you don’t have bread flour, use the equivalent amount of all-purpose flour mixed with 1½ tsp of vital wheat gluten – Bob’s Red Mill brand works great.)
· 1 teaspoon of bread machine yeast (instant yeast will do, but bread machine specific is best)
Instructions
Add all ingredients to your bread machine except the yeast in the order provided. Make a “well” (a little divot) in the top of the flour, like the crater of a volcano. Add the yeast to the well.
Program your machine for the basic/white bread setting. Choose the light or medium crust (I like medium, but I like bread crust). Press “start”.
Once it’s done, remove the bucket from the machine. Wait 5 minutes before taking the loaf out of the bucket. Let the loaf fully cool on the bread rack (even though you’ll want to tear right into it. Resist!).
That day, you’ll have amazing sourdough bread. The next day, it’s time to start making toast from it…and spread on a nice layer of your hummus for an incredible snack!
Try It? What Did You Think?
Did you try my amazing easy hummus recipe and simple sourdough bread? Did you try them together? What did you think? Please share thoughts and pics on my social media!
