Pea-Cilantro Hummus

I'm starting to feel like summertime means hummus time.

Here's the back story on this creation. We were at work at the Easton Public Market Farmstand. We had extra peas that had to be used up. I was charged with doing just that. I worked off a recipe my co-worker Martha found, but between the two of us we came up with the idea of using cilantro instead of mint because we had more of it and because the citrus notes of the herb work well with peas. So I used limes, and the fabulous tahini we sell at the market from a company called Soom. It's pretty thin and easy to incorporate; if your tahini is chunkier, you might need to add water to this recipe. You'll know once you start blending. 

Once I put this together, we all sampled it and loved it. I then ended up using it a day or so later for the Market Kitchen Minute at the Easton Farmers' Market. I used it as a base for pizza instead of sauce, and that was everyone's favorite, hands down. (I also did a kale, hakurei turnip and feta pizza, and a zucchini, tomato and goat and pecorino pizza.) I paired it with "Kitchen Garden" Clover cheese from Valley Milkhouse (it's a cow's milk chevre-like cheese, rolled in herbs such as lavender and chamomile. I also topped it with asparagus and a shower of lemon zest on top, after it came out of the oven. I then decided that I should just put it out with fancy crackers from our olive oil vendor, Olive with a Twist, and that people could try peas that way, too. It's good. 

Pizza with pea-cilantro hummus, asparagus, herbed chevre and lemon zest

Pea-cilantro hummus. Garnish or dip as desired. 

I had enough people ask me for the recipe that I thought it just made good sense to put it out there for anyone who's into this. I used straight-up frozen peas for this, defrosted. You could use fresh ones, but it would be harder, because you would have to cook them first. And that sort of takes the ease out of the process, right?

Ingredients

• 1 pound frozen peas, defrosted
• 1/3 cup tahini
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/3 cup fresh cilantro
• Juice of two limes
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Combine all of the ingredients in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade or the Vitamix. The mixture should be a little chunky, and not completely smooth. 

Transfer to an air-tight, lidded container and store in the fridge for 3-5 days.