Roast root hummus

This is a great snack or starter, served with crudités or warm flatbreads, or spooned into toasted pittas with salad and/or some shredded cold meat. Use whatever leftover roast roots are to hand, and if you have some roast onions or garlic, chuck those in too.

(Serves 2-4)

Ingredients:

400g tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed100–300g roast roots, such as carrots,parsnips, celeriac and perhaps some roast onionJuice of 1 small lemon2 tbsp tahini or thick natural wholemilk yoghurt2 tbsp olive or rapeseed oil,plus extra to finish1–2 garlic cloves, finely chopped½ tsp cumin seeds, bashed, or agood pinch of ground cumin, plus extra to finish (optional)Good pinch of dried chilli flakes, plusextra to finish (optional)Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:

In a food processor, whiz the chickpeas, roots, lemon juice, tahini or yoghurt, oil, garlic, cumin and chilli flakes together until fairly smooth. If it’s too thick, thin with some hot water until you get the consistency you like.

Season to taste with salt and pepper. To serve, spoon the hummus into a bowl or onto a plate, sprinkle with a good pinch of crushed cumin seeds and chilli flakes, if you like, and trickle on some olive or rapeseed oil.

Sealed in a container, this hummus keeps well in the fridge for up to a week

Tips and swaps

You can use leftover home-cooked chickpeas here if you like: 250g cooked peas is roughly equivalent to what you get in a 400g tin

If you don’t have any chickpeas, cannellini or butter beans work well too

Extract taken from River Cottage Love Your Leftovers by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall (Bloomsbury, £20)

Photography © Simon Wheeler