Hummus

Hummus is a paste made from cooked chickpeas and tahini, originally from Arab countries. My Iraqi friend Ban told me this recipe over ten years ago... (Time flies!). Today it is a well known dish everywhere.

Ban always served it accompanied by Arabic bread (I use pita bread instead) and a tabbouleh made ​​with parsley, which I'll show another time.

You can boil the chickpeas yourself or use them from a jar, which it is very handy.

For those who do not know, the tahini is a sesame seed paste. You can buy it in health food stores or specialized stores.

HUMMUS

1 jar of cooked chickpeas

1 garlic

2 tablespoons of tahini

2 tablespoons of olive oil

2 tablespoons of lemon juice

Ground cumin

Ground black pepper

Salt

Rinse the chickpeas well to remove the liquid in which they are preserved (you don’t have to do this if you cooked the chickpeas yourself, of course).

Put all the ingredients in the bowl of a blender and grind it all. If it is too thick you can add some water, more oil or lemon juice, as you prefer.

Serve in a shallow dish with a drizzle of olive oil. You can also sprinkle with paprika.

Tuna pie

Perfect for birthday parties or any other event where you have guests and you are going to prepare some snacks.

Buying ready-made puff pastry, the only time consuming task is to prepare the ratatouille (and even this, you can buy it canned ready-made).

TUNA PIE

2 sheets of puff pastry

2 boiled eggs

2 small cans of tuna

Beaten egg or milk (to paint the pastry)

And for the ratatouille:

2 onions

3 Italian green peppers

2 cloves of garlic

1 zucchini

4 or 5 ripe tomatoes

Olive oil

Salt

In a pan with some oil sauté the onion, pepper and garlic (everything finely chopped). You can add some salt at this point to help cooking the vegetables. When the onion begins to turn transparent, add the zucchini, cut into small cubes. Continue to sauté, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.

Peel and cut the tomatoes and add to the vegetables. Let everything cook until tomatoes turn into sauce. Add more salt if needed. If the result is slightly acidic, you can also add some sugar.

When the tomato mixture has cooled assemble the pie.

Place a sheet of puff pastry on the baking sheet on top of parchment paper. Prick the pastry with a fork over the entire surface to prevent it from rising when you bake it. Distribute the ratatouille on the pastry, leaving a 1 cm margin all around. Add the chopped hard boiled eggs and flaked tuna. Cover with the second sheet of pastry and seal the edges by pressing the pastry with your fingers or a fork. Prick the top pastry with a fork and make two small cuts so that the steam generated inside when baking can escape. Paint with beaten egg or milk and bake at 220 degrees C until the pastry is golden brown.