My brother loves hummus. When my mom makes it, he has to be careful not to finish it all. Because he tends to eat it all, Mommy makes him work on the ingredients. He soaks and peels the garbanzos, toasts the sesame seeds, blends everything. So really, he makes it now, for his own consumption. 

Victor turned 26 last week. As a birthday gift, I decided to make him some hummus. I’d found an article on Epicurious that talked about how you could make hummus with any kind of bean, so I tried it out. 

Rej’s Red Hummus

• red pimientos – I used half a can, and some of the liquid
• pesto – Start with three tablespoons, and add later on as you see fit. (Normally I make my own pesto, but I was too lazy. So I used McCormick. You can buy it powdered, and you just add water and oil. You can prepare this ahead.)
• kidney beans – I used half a can, but I soaked the beans in water first to remove some of the salt. 
• garbanzos – I used the whole can. 
• garlic – You  can start with three cloves, but I like a lot more. Five cloves, to a whole head! 
• lemon – Squeeze the juice out of one lemon.
• salt and pepper
• water – Start with three tablespoons, and add later on as you see fit.
• olive oil – Start with three tablespoons, and add later on as you see fit.
• cayenne pepper

Honestly, hummus is a labor of love. It requires a lot of time and effort! I can’t even imagine how long it took to make hummus in the days before blenders were invented. 

1. Drain the can of garbanzos. Soak the garbanzos in hot water for about 20 minutes. 
2. When the water is warm, no longer hot, you can start peeling the garbanzos. You really just squeeze each piece gently, and the skin peels off on its own. Don’t squeeze too hard, or else you’ll crush the pea. This is the laborious part. It took me about 20 to 30 minutes to peel a can’s worth of garbanzos. Put the peeled garbanzos in a colander so the excess water drips. 
3. In your blender, add garlic, pesto, olive oil, water and garlic. Blend thoroughly. This way you have a liquid base, which will make things easier to blend. If you start with the more solid ingredients, it will be difficult to blend.
4. Add the kidney beans and red pimiento. Blend thoroughly. I like my hummus quite smooth. Others might like it thicker, so how much you blend is up to you, really. 
5. Add the garbanzos in spoonfuls, blending thoroughly before you add again. If it’s getting too thick, you can olive oil, water or pesto. 
6. Season with cayenne pepper, salt and black pepper, to taste. I like my red hummus a little sharp, so the pesto and the lemon juice work really well for the flavor. 

It’s up to you to blend as much or as little as you want, to make it smooth or thick, to add more or less liquid. This stuff is great with crackers, porkchops, pita bread, vegetable sticks, chips, anything, really! 

Happy Birthday, Victor! Enjoy the red hummus!