Visiting the historical town of Winchester, we decided to stop for lunch at Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s River Cottage Kitchen. We shared a starter of a mixed mezze board, but the single dish that stood out from the board for me was the carrot and yellow split pea hummus.
I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it, it may have been the best hummus I have ever had. So I trawled through Hugh’s books to find a recipe, but alas, there were none to be found. So I have endeavoured to make my own.
Split peas are a great addition to your diet, naturally low in fat, high in plant-based protein and a source of fibre. We can often forget about including beans and pulses in as part of our weekly plant food diversity, but we should be aiming to eat from all 6 categories of plant-based foods; fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, whole grains, and legumes. This particular recipe covers 4 out of the 6 groups, and by adding some wholegrain crackers, perhaps even topped with nuts you could maximise the diversity of your diet.
Serves 6
Recipe
- 100g split yellow peas
- 2 carrots, washed and chopped into large pieces
- 2 cloves garlic, skins on
- 30g tahini
- 40ml extra virgin olive oil
- 90ml water (you may need more or less depending on the texture you wish for)
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
- 30g flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
- Juice of a lemon
- Salt and pepper to taste
To serve
- Fresh Parsley leaves
- Nigella seeds
- Vegetable crudites e.g. carrots, radish, cauliflower
- Crackers
Method
- Wash the split peas in cold water, then top with 500ml water and bring to the boil for 10 minutes before lowering the heat to a gentile simmer for 25 minutes. Drain and allow to cool.
- When the peas are simmering, roast the carrots and garlic cloves in the oven preheated to 180 ° C/170 ° C Fan/GM4 for 20 minutes. Allow to cool.
- Add the cooked peas, carrots and garlic clove, removing the skin, to a food processor. Add the tahini, extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, water, spices and parsley and blend. Season to taste and add more water if the dip remains too thick.
- Serve sprinkled with nigella seeds and fresh parsley leaves.
Per serving 107kcal/ 3.6g fat/ 2.0g saturated fat/ 11.6g carbohydrates/ 3.1g fibre/ 5.3g protein