Tomato & Red Bean Hummus

Another recipe from my demos over summer in the RHS world food garden at Wisley. This can be SO easily made up with lots of different substitutes (go wild with whatever beans you can get your hands on) and use the more traditional garlic bulbs and lemon instead of the garlic chives and apple cider vinegar I’ve used here if you like. The key is to use up those tomatoes and enjoy the last bite of summer.

Ingredients

• 700g red beans (I’ve used Bold Beans)

• 300g-400g tomatoes (ideally larger varieties than cherry, any will do - more tomatoes will make the mix looser, less will make it heavier)

• 70g tahini

• 3 tbsp garlic chives (or ½ large garlic clove), chopped or minced if bulb garlic

• 80ml apple cider vinegar (I’ve used eureka lemon & turmeric ACV from Willy’s)

• A drop of honey

Method

1. Start by preparing the tomatoes. Bring a medium pan of water to a bubbling simmer on the hob, and slice a cross through the ‘eye’ of the tomatoes with a knife. Drop the tomatoes into the water for 45 seconds to 1 minute, and you’ll see the skin start to pucker. Once this happens, drain the tomatoes from the water and peel the skin off. Leave the tomatoes to cool, then cut in half and take the seeds out of the tomatoes, reserving the flesh for your hummus

2. Drain the beans but reserve the fluid (don’t rinse the beans either). Add the beans, tomato flesh, tahini, garlic chives, apple cider vinegar and honey to a blender. On high speed, blend till smooth. With the reserved bean liquid, add a little at a time till you have your desired consistency (hummus is personal, I like mine more like a sauce and sily smooth, but you might prefer chunky!). The bean liquid is salty, so taste the hummus to see if it needs salt before you add it

3. Top with your favourite veggies and serve with crudités and crackers.