If there’s two things I know I will always have the ingredients on hand to make, it’s spaghetti cacio e pepe, which is my #1 comfort food dish… and hummus. It’s incredible to me the way that a handful of basic ingredients can come together to create magic – butter, sugar, eggs and flour and hey, you have cake. Or in this case a few things thrown into the food processor can create a dreamy dip.

A can of chickpeas. Lemon. Garlic. Olive oil. Tahini. Salt. That’s literally it. We always have these ingredients on hand. If you’ve never tried making hummus at home, it’s sooo different to it’s store-bought counterpart – and in my opionion, way better. I don’t think I can ever go back to buying it from the supermarket!

Tahini is a sesame seed paste that you can buy at any supermarket now. It has become a staple in recent years and we always have it in the pantry. I will often use it in salad dressings and this spicy pork noodle dish is one of our favourites. I made it a few days ago! Tahini is even a popular ingredient to add to desserts like brownies or cookies as a nut-free substitute for peanut butter. 

Today I am adding one more ingredient to my hummus recipe. I think you can tell just by looking at the photos.

Beetroot!

I found in-season beetroot at the markets for 99c a kilo so you bet I had to pick some up. I just roasted it with some olive oil and then cooled it before adding it to my hummus. You can also pick up pre-cooked peeled beetroot at the supermarket these days which is a massive time saver. 

And what to eat with our beautiful homemade hummus? The options are endless. You can use it as a bed for slow cooked lamb as I’ve done before. Perhaps in a nourish bowl like the photo above. Hummus is a great base for your favourite roasted vegetables, source of protein (chicken or haloumi are delicious) and sauteed kale. You could even throw a poached egg on top and have a fancy cafe-style breakfast!

Or, since you’re already making things from scratch, you could try homemade seeded crackers too! I’ve experimented with a few cracker recipes over the years with varying levels of success. I like a crunchy, rustic cracker that you can crack apart into irregular shapes. This recipe came from Real Food Projects and was incredibly easy to make. The basic recipe is four ingredients and a rolling pin.

It’s impossible to overwork the dough and they were surprisingly quick and easy to make. The recipe produced a crisp, paper thin cracker, which is great but I think next time I will actually roll them a little thicker so they are better for dipping.

When you make things yourself, you can experiment and customise, which is definitely my favourite part. Try different brands of tahini in your hummus until you find one that is perfect. Change the texture by adding more or less of the reserved chickpea water or lemon juice.

Maybe try using different flours in the homemade crackers (a whole wheat or rye flour would be fantastic) and you can add any toppings you like! I used white and black sesame seeds and fennel seeds, but you could also use any kind of salt, poppy seeds, dried herbs, spices (give them a quick roast in a frying pan for extra flavour!) or even a sprinkling of grated cheese. Delicious!

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Beetroot Hummus with Homemade Seeded Crackers

This delicious snack is so easy to make from scratch with ingredients you probably already have in your pantry – Beetroot Hummus with Homemade Seeded Crackers.

Course Snack

Keyword Healthy Recipes, Snack

Prep Time 1 hour

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Servings 10

Ingredients

Beetroot Hummus

• 300 g beetroot, roasted and cooled
• 2 cans chickpeas
• 1-2 cloves garlic
• 2 tablespoons tahini
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Juice of 2 lemons
• Salt, to taste

Homemade Seeded Crackers

• 150 g plain flour
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for brushing
• 60 ml 1/4 cup water
• 1 tablespoon sea salt
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds (I used a combination of white and black)
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds

Instructions

1. To make the hummus, drain the chickpeas and reserve the liquid. This is called Aquafaba and can be used for many other recipes or as a vegan egg white substitute!
2. Add the beetroots to a food processor and blitz until it starts to break down into smaller pieces. Add the chickpeas, garlic, tahini, olive oil and lemon juice to the food processor and blitz again. Scrape down the sides, add a little salt and 2 tablespoons of reserved aquafaba.
3. Blitz again until the hummus starts to turn smooth. Taste for seasoning and add a little more salt or lemon juice if you like. I added about 5 tablespoons of aquafaba to reach the thick consistency that I wanted, but keep adding a little at a time and blitz until you are happy with the consistency and texture. Serve with homemade crackers.
4. To make the crackers, preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F).
5. Combine the flour, olive oil, water and salt in a large mixing bowl and stir to combine. The mixture should be a little sticky. Add extra water 1 tablespoon at a time if your mixture is looking too dry.
6. Tip the dough out onto a floured work bench and knead for about 1 minute. It should have a soft texture. Cut the dough into 8 equal pieces and roll out with a rolling pin into a long oblong shape. It’s ok if they aren’t perfectly shaped – rustic is the name of the game! You can roll them paper thin for a super crisp cracker, or a little more thickly for a cracker with some crunch.
7. Sprinkle each piece of dough evenly with your chosen toppings and gently roll your rolling pin over the top to make sure they stick to the dough. Transfer to baking trays lined with non-stick baking paper and prick all over with a fork. Optionally, brush with a little extra olive oil or butter.
8. Bake for 6-8 minutes or until they are golden. Cool on a wire rack and then crack into irregular size pieces. These crackers will keep for up to 2 weeks stored in an air-tight container.