White Bean Dip With Cumin-Chile Oil
Updated Dec. 9, 2024
- Total Time
- 15 minutes
- Prep Time
- 5 minutes
- Cook Time
- 10 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 2 to 3garlic cloves, grated or finely minced
- Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon, plus more to taste
- ½teaspoon fine sea salt, more to taste
- 2(15-ounce) cans cannellini or white kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- ½cup plus 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- Warm water
- 2teaspoons cumin seeds
- ½teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, for garnish
- Flaky sea salt, for garnish
- Chips, crackers, breadsticks, crostini or vegetables, for serving
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Preparation
- Step 1
In a food processor or blender, blend garlic, lemon juice, salt and drained white beans until chunky but combined. With the motor running, drizzle ½ cup olive oil through the feed tube and process until blended, but not entirely smooth. Pulse in warm water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the mixture is thick and scoopable but not runny. Taste and add more salt or lemon juice as needed.
- Step 2
In a small skillet over medium heat, combine remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil and cumin seeds. Heat until cumin seeds smell toasted and pop in the pan, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Step 3
Spoon dip into a bowl. Use the back of a spoon to make swirls. Drizzle the cumin oil over the dip. Garnish with crushed red pepper, lemon zest and flaky sea salt.
Private Notes
Comments
Ron - Couple things: Drain, rinse and let the canned beans dry out for a few minutes. Pulse the food processor rather than running constantly and open to check consistency. Add oil (as this will not make it runny) and check if you like texture. Only if it's too thick add some bits of warm water at the end. And never use cornstarch to thicken unless you will be heating it later (like gravy) or it can have an aftertaste.
This is what I make whenever we have people over for a meal or party. I started making my own "hummus" with cannellini beans, garlic, lemon juice and olive oil (and some seasonings) years ago because my granddaughter is allergic to sesame. I use cannellini beans so that it is distinct from hummus. I love it, my family loves it, and guests enjoy it too. I've also been making bagels and challah - for same reason: I can make those without sesame sees.
We make a similar version here using dried split fava beans or, even better, cicerchia--a wild heritage legume related to chickpeas but more flavorful, and which must be salted and pre-soaked for 24 hours. Either way, cooking them at home (as opposed to canned beans) allows us add garlic to the pot, which infuses the beans and avoids raw garlic in the dip--a no-go zone for most Italians. Not a 15-minute recipe as such, but virtually all of the time is unattended.
A beautifully simple recipe that turns out with the creamy texture of a restaurant hummus, which you can't quite get at home without a commercial grade food processor. I've made this at least a dozen times now and it's always a winner. I usually drizzle chili crisp from a jar on top instead of making the cumin oil. Delish either way!
In addition to what the recipe called for, I added the zest from about half of a lemon. a microwaved the garlic before I graded it into the food processor to take out some of the bite. in place of cumin, I toasted a zaatar spice blend in oil which I can't recommend enough. I also tossed my red pepper flakes into the zaatar blend (in oil) to heat them a bit as well. In place of about a tablespoon of olive oil, I added about a tablespoon of tahini to the food processor.
As the finished dish, my book club and I really liked it. But….I didn’t use the cumin infused oil, since I didn’t lie the taste of the oil. Ended up using a nice vibrant tasting oil and sprinkling some sweet paprika. Served with veggies. Yum!
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