When Pumpkin Meets Chickpea

There are some flavors that many could argue can go well with anything – Vanilla, chocolate, all the typical suspects. In my own opinion, I believe that there is one prominent culinary player that belongs in this category right up there with the best of them. Although rarely included, pumpkins deserve far more recognition in this area.

Autumn gives me an excuse to put pumpkin in just about everything, and I plan on taking full advantage of the opportunity before the season ends. I’ve already gone through three cans of it, and I’m just getting warmed up now! Oh, and just to clarify where I stand on the whole fresh vs. canned issue: I’ve heard a lot of argument that fresh is always better than canned, but please, give me a break here. With the vast quantities of puree necessary to satiate the pumpkin fiend in me, I would need a bigger car to accommodate their bulk when bringing them home. Not to mention the time, mess, cost… I do adore fresh pumpkin flesh and seeds, and plan to carve one of these lovely orange orbs for Halloween, but for baking and cooking, canned pumpkin is a joy in itself. [Even the experts agree with me!]

When I mentioned my desire to replicate the recipe I chanced upon at Slash-Food, I was met with a very skeptical response. Pumpkin hummus? Not what you might expect to find on grocery store shelves, but to me this sounded like a match made in heaven. I could never get enough of either of these individually, so mashed together I could only imagine it becoming a substance equally as addictive as crack.

The minute I saw a reasonable space of free time become available, I rushed to extricate my food processor from the jumble of assorted kitchen appliances strewn about in the cabinets. I was so excited to make my hummus, I was well on my way with everything out of cans and ready to go, when I discovered that there was no tahini in the house. Oops. Oh well, not a disaster – I just substituted a tablespoon of almond butter instead, to no ill effects. The clove of garlic I pulled from the bundle in the fridge appeared in my eyes to be puny in size, so I figured the more the merrier and threw three in to join the mix.

After hearing so many doubts about this particular invention, I found myself slightly reluctant to taste it when the moment of truth came. Oh the power of suggestion! Shaking off my momentary hesitation, I plunged my chunk of pita into the dip, and bit the bullet, so to speak. It did turn out very garlicy, but I wouldn’t say that’s at all a bad thing. To sum it all up though, all I can really say is… It’s simply delicious.

Such a lovely orange hue, isn’t it? I love this recipe so much, I think I may never buy commercial hummus again, and just make this version all year round.

Yes, it truly is that good.