THE LEVANTINE KITCHEN

Hummus with lamb and pine nuts

1½ HOURS + OVERNIGHT SOAKING | SERVES 4-6 | EASY

This is the classic Lebanese way of serving meat with hummus – the cinnamon-flavoured meat and nuts blend perfectly with it. Our Levantine style of hummus is smooth and not flavoured with garlic at all. This means it can accept other strong flavours such as this spiced lamb really well. We serve with a hot green chilli sauce and warm pittas.

olive oil 1 tbsp
red onion 1 large, finely chopped
lean minced lamb 500g
butter 25g
lamb stock 450ml
bulgar wheat 85g
ground cumin 2 tsp
ground cinnamon 1¹/2 tsp
chilli powder¹/2 tsp
granulated sugar 1 tsp
pine nuts 55g, toasted
hummus 450g (see below)
tahini to serve
paprika to serve

HUMMUS

dried chickpeas 250g
bicarbonate of soda 1 tsp
tahini 150g
lemon 1, juiced

• To make the hummus, tip the chickpeas into a bowl and cover with plenty of cold water (they will expand as they soak). Cover and leave to soak – there’s no need to refrigerate them – for 12 hours, or overnight.

• Drain the chickpeas and put into a medium pan. Pour in enough cold water so that it covers the chickpeas by about 2cm. Stir in the