You may not believe me, but seriously, just about every vegetable is better roasted. Who can argue with tender, “caramel-ly” yumminess that is SO easy? Roast your carrots and stop there OR use them to boost the flavor in this super Roasted Carrot Hummus.
I’ve roasted carrots with a variety of other veggies simply drizzled with olive oil and spread out on a half baker’s sheet. That’s good, too, but this method turned out to speed up the cooking…a plus on a busy weeknight!
Prepping the carrots
The original recipe for the hummus (find that here…3rd recipe down) just calls for 3 large carrots. That’s fine for making a good 2 cups of hummus for a party. But if you dare taste ‘em before you make the dip, I guarantee you’re gonna be making more just to eat as they are after roasting.
The 3 large carrots would serve 2 people as a side. I’d suggest 6-8 carrots if you want to serve 4. There’s definitely enough room on the half baker’s sheet to handle that quantity.
Wash and peel your carrots, then cut into ½ to 1-inch chunks. Toss with a teaspoon or two of olive oil. The recipe calls for just a teaspoon, but I eyeball this, and I’m sure I use more.
The key is the steam!
Pull off a piece of foil that is a little more than twice the size of your baking sheet. Put one half on the sheet with a little over one edge and the rest of it hanging off the other. Pour the carrots on the foil in the pan and spread them as flat as possible leaving room around the outside edge.
Fold the foil over top of the carrots to match the other side, then crimp 3 sides closed forming a pouch that will roast and steam your carrots. This is what makes them cook so quickly!
Pop that tray into a 400 degree oven. At 30 minutes, I had lightly burned the bottom side of my chunks (no worries, I made more and ate the burned ones…cook’s treat!). The second time, I took them out at 15 minutes to check, and they were already fork-tender. Open that pouch VERY carefully cause the steam in there can really getcha!
This method works well for chunks of peeled butternut squash, too! If you need a little more time, just close it back up and go for another 5 minutes or so.
Making the hummus
- 3 carrots, chunked and roasted
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 15-ounce can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
After the carrots have cooled a little, combine everything in a food processor. If you use one of the smaller “bullet” type blenders, you’ll need to do it in two parts as the quantity is too much for just one. Do NOT put HOT carrots in a bullet blender…when you open it, the steam heat will sort of blow the top off…hot carrots everywhere (Yeah, you know how I know).
Blend until it’s all thoroughly incorporated. You can see the mixture fold in on itself when it’s truly all chopped up. Just keeping going for a few more seconds, then you’re done.
Spoon into your serving bowl and top with pepitos (the green pumpkin seed kernels) and Everything Bagel seasoning to garnish (or save money and just use the seasoning).
A beginner’s dream recipe
Really, this recipe looks fancy, but it’s so easy even a beginner can pull it off. Not even expensive…I made mine for less than $5. Just in time for holiday parties, roasted carrot hummus is a real crowd-pleaser! (I’m betting this might be another dip where leftovers could be frozen in ice cubes as well!)
Looking for other crowd-pleasers for parties? Try these…
