Molly Baz

1. SOFTEN THE CHICKPEAS:
Drain two 14-ounce cans of chickpeas. To a medium pot, add all but a generous ½ cup of chickpeas. Reserve the ½ cup for crisping up later on.
Cover the chickpeas with water. Smash and peel 3 garlic cloves, and add them to the pot along with a big pinch of salt. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook, until the chickpeas are very soft, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat, strain off, and reserve the cooking liquid (we will use this later on). Let cool slightly. If using a blender such as a nutribullet where there isn’t a hole to open while blending, wait even longer until bean mixture is lukewarm.
2. BLEND:
To the base of a blender, add ½ cup lemon juice, and 2 finely grated raw garlic cloves. Add the cooked chickpeas and garlic to the blender along with ⅔ cup tahini, and ¾ cup of the reserved chickpea cooking liquid. Season with a few big pinches of salt and blend, starting on low, scraping down the sides of the blender before continuing, and then eventually working your way up to high speed.
Ultimately you want to run the hummus in the blender on high for at least 2 minutes but if you do so right out the gates, the hummus won’t catch and you’ll be left spinning nothing. So be patient, scrape down sides of the blender and restart until it starts to become smooth enough to run on high. If it still seems super thick, add an additional 2-4 tablespoons of the cooking liquid to loosen it up more.
Once very smooth, taste and adjust seasoning, adding more salt or lemon if needed. Transfer to a heat proof container and press some plastic wrap on the top of the hummus to avoid oxidation. Let cool. Hummus can be made up to 7 days in advance.
3. SIZZLE THE CHICKPEAS:
In a small non-stick skillet, combine 2 tablespoons olive oil, and 2 tablespoons unsalted butter. Set over medium heat. As soon as the butter has melted, add the reserved chickpeas and a pinch of salt. Cook over medium, swirling the pan every couple minutes, until the chickpeas have shrunk, turned crisp and golden brown and the butter surrounding them shows specks of browned bits, indicating the milk solids have browned, 8-10 minutes.
Remove from the heat. Stir in 1 tablespoon sweet paprika; it will foam up. Once the foaming subsides, finely grate 1 large garlic clove into the chickpea butter mixture. Season with salt.
4. SERVE:
Prep whatever crudites, bread, snacks etc you are planning to serve for dippers.
Add a few big dollops of hummus to a medium shallow bowl and smooth out in a circular motion, leaving a divot in the center for the crispy chickpeas.
Just before serving, spoon the chickpeas into the center of the hummus. Add another tablespoon of olive oil to the remaining butter and sludgy bits in the pan, and stir to loosen them. Pour any and all of the browned butter over the hummus as well. Serve immediately while the butter is still warm! It will congeal over time.