Beetroot and Walnut Hummus by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

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I'm currently working on an artists' book about a dinner party, so of course I had to have said dinner party to get it started. There isn't really any work to look at yet, but you can see some of my older work if you have a look through some of the posts on my website or the Battenburg Press Tumblr.

I invited five friends round and made quite a few dishes, but failed to photograph most of them, so those recipes will have to wait a little longer before being shared on here. I did manage to photograph my new favourite dip though. It's not only delicious and easy to make, I also absolutely love the colour of it. You just can't beat beets for colour, can you?!

Try it with fresh flatbread or on a sandwich with some goat's cheese. Perfection!



Beetroot and Walnut Dip by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall (serves 4-6)

50g walnuts
1 tbsp cumin seeds
25g stale bread, crusts removed
200g cooked beetroot (not pickled), cut into cubes
1 tbsp tahini
1 large garlic clove, crushed
1 lemon, juice off
sea salt, to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
a little olive (optional)

Preaheat your oven to 180C/Gas 4.

Place the walnuts in one layer on a baking tray and roast in the oven for 5-7 minutes, until fragrant.

Remove from oven and leave to cool.

Heat a small frying pan over a medium heat.

Add the cumin seeds and dry-fry them. You need to keep moving the pan around or stirr the seeds constantly. What you want is for them to release their aroma, but not burn! It should only take a minute or so.

Transfer the seeds to a pestle and mortar or a spice grinder and crush them well.

Break the bread into chunks and add them to a bowl together with the walnuts. Using a stick blender, process them until you have fine crumbs. You can do this in a food processor also.

Add the beetroot, tahini, the garlic, a good pinch of the cumin, half the lemon juice, a little salt and a good bit of pepper, then process until you have a thick paste.

Taste the mixture and adjust it by adding a little more cumin, garlic, lemon, salt and/or pepper until you like the taste.

You can add a splash of oil if you think the dip is to thick.




Serve at room temperature.


Enjoy!