Roasted Butternut Squash Hummus

I know it’s February and you might be thinking about (and looking forward to) spring and radishes more than pumpkins but I’m hoping this recipe will bring your mind back to the humble butternut squash. In this recipe it is blended together with roasted garlic, cannellini beans and a bunch of spices to make the most delicious and warming dip or spread.

The spices that I use in this recipe remind me of North African flavours and is a lovely mixture of a spice and heat and warming and sweet. If you are not into a bit of sweetness in your savoury dishes then I would still make this dip but simply omit the maple syrup and cinnamon. That way you are sticking to the more savoury spices and the sweetness will only be coming from the roasted butternut. Either way you try it I have a feeling you’re going to enjoy!

Other hummus recipes and bean dips you might like: Classic Hummus, Roasted Bell Pepper and Cannellini Bean Dip, Herby Pesto Hummus and Smokey Butter Bean Hummus.

Malin x

Roasted Butternut Squash Hummus

Makes roughly 1,5 cup

INGREDIENTS:

A piece of butternut squash large enough to yield 1 cup of chunks after peeling

1 can cannelini beans, or equivalent home-cooked

1/2 lemon, juice

2 tbsp tahini

2 tbsp nutritional yeast

1 tsp maple syrup

0,5 tsp aleppo pepper flakes

0,5 tsp smoked paprika

0,5 tsp ground coriander

0,25 tsp cinnamon

Top with:

Pumpkin seeds

Thyme leaves

Dusting of smoked paprika

METHOD:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius.

Peel and cut a piece of the butternut squash large enough to yield 1 cups worth of chunks. The smaller you make the chunks the faster they will cook in the oven. I usually make mine quite chunky.

Place the chunks on an oven tray, drizzle with 1 tbsp olive oil and season with salt. Toss to coat.

Peel off excess layers of the garlic skin and cut off the top of the bulb so that the cloves are exposed. Place the cut garlic bulb onto a piece of aluminium foil large enough to envelop the bulb. Drizzle the bulb with 1 tsp of olive oil and rub into the exposed part of the garlic. Close the aluminium foil so that the bulb is completely wrapped and place on the oven tray along with the butternut squash.

Roast the squash and the garlic in the preheated oven for roughly 35-40 minutes. If you did cut your butternut squash small then it might be done after only 20 minutes or so, always keep an eye on it. It will be done when it’s a little browned around the edges and soft all the way through. The garlic is done when it is completely soft and tender and has changed colour to off white.

Remove from the oven once cooked well and allow to cool.

Add the one cup of roasted butternut squash along with 5 of the roasted garlic cloves into the bowl of a food processor with an s-blade. Also add the remaining ingredients to the bowl.

Blend on auto until completely smooth. Serve as a dip and top with pumpkin seeds, fresh thyme leaves and a dusting of smoked paprika if you wish.