I've been perfecting my hummus recipe over the years and little by little, batch by batch, it gets better and better.
The biggest change was to stop using canned chickpeas and to start cooking dried chickepeas myself, then pureeing them into hummus. Not only do the peas have better flavor, you also get a pot full of amazing, garlicky chickpea broth that you can use for soups, or add to the hummus in place of some of the olive oil.
My latest innovation is minor but I think it makes a pretty big difference, and that is to warm the cooked chickpeas in the microwave before adding them to the food processor. I swear it's made my hummus lighter, fluffier, and completely smooth without any distracting graininess on the tongue.
I discovered this by accident when I cooked the chickpeas on one day to make into hummus the next. I used them cold from the fridge and the resulting hummus was a touch gritty and heavier than usual (still good though but not as light as usual).
Before that, I'd used chickpeas straight from the pot while still warm. And that hummus was better.
So last week, I took 30 seconds to zap the chickpeas before pureeing. The hummus was as velvety as mousse and nearly as light. Using a little of the chickpea broth in place of oil might have helped the cause.
I think this would even work with canned chickpeas. Or at least, it wouldn't hurt.
I'll be posting my hummus recipe this fall as one of the monthly recipes from my upcoming book, Cook This Now (to be released in October). In the meantime, use your favorite hummus recipe but try heating up the peas first. And let me know if you agree with me about the texture.

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