Impress your guests with this beautiful and tasty Pumpkin Hummus. Roasted pumpkin with hummus topped with ground garlic prawns and za’atar.
The most fancy hummus ever!
Dude, it’s already October again! What the? Time is getting ahead of us and time is ticking, so let’s live our best lives! For me, this includes challenging myself with making some fancy dishes from scratch.
I’ve always been a passionate cook and love creating almost everything under the sun. However, when I got pregnant with my now almost 2-year-old toddler, Kai, my cooking style has changed. Less complex dishes and more easy and fast dishes.
I miss diving into celebrity chefs’ recipes. Prior to Kai, I often trialled recipes from renowned chefs and put myself under immense pressure when recreating their exceptional dishes. It was all worth it if I pulled off the recipe. The personal sense of accomplishment was massive and so was my ego!
With my husband, Tomasi’s looking after Kai this weekend, I could remake the talented chef, Paul Wilson’s Pumpkin Hummus with Minced Prawns and Za’atar recipe (with a few slight tweaks). As soon as I came across Paul’s hummus recipe, I knew instantly that I would love it. It was a unique and creative way to have hummus and it had all the ingredients I adored.
Like most chef’s recipes, there are a few steps involved in making this impressive Pumpkin Hummus, but these steps aren’t difficult. You just need some patience and some wine. Hey, I had neither patience nor wine and I could still make this, so I’m sure you can too!
This hummus has a silky rich mouthfeel. There’s a wonderful mix of nutty, sweet and smoky flavours. The za’atar adds a lovely crunch, and the ground garlic prawns turn the hummus into more than just a dip. It almost becomes a meal of its own. We had this hummus for lunch just with just corn chips and flatbread and it made us all so full!
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The rolling pumpkin
October is a great month to fall madly for pumpkins as they’re on sale, thanks to Halloween. Me being me, I can’t stay away from bargains, so when I saw my local grocer was selling whole pumpkins for $5 each, I grabbed two. They were so heavy and weighed roughly 6 kilos each.
As I was putting the pumpkins into my trolley, I noticed Kai was chewing on a mushroom. He ripped a hole into its bag and pulled one out. ‘Um, we haven’t paid for that yet and it not washed!’ I said, removing it out of his hands. It’s funny that he rejects the yummy veggies I try to feed him and yet he wants to munch on a raw and dirty mushroom!
When we got home, hubby came out to help carry the groceries from the car. The bag ripped open, and a pumpkin escaped. The three of us watched as the pumpkin performed cartwheels sideways towards our neighbour’s house. ‘Get it! Get it!’ I screamed. I would’ve chased it too if I wasn’t holding onto my toddler, Kai.
Tomasi made a dash for it and when he was near the pumpkin, it sped past him and onto our neighbour’s flower bed. Just like a rolling wrecking ball, the pumpkin flattened all the gorgeous flowers that were in its path.
Feeling awful, we knocked on our neighbour’s door. ‘Hold Kai up in the middle of us, so they can’t get too mad at us!’ Tomasi instructed quickly. We apologised profusely and offered to buy them flowers and a gift card but they were so gracious and declined.
Walking back to our house, we couldn’t help but chuckle. That pumpkin tried to escape its fate of being turned into hummus!
Ingredients for Pumpkin Hummus with Prawns and Za’atar
For the Za’atar and Garlic Chilli prawns
Pumpkin – I used Japanese (Jap or Kent) pumpkin, which is sweet and nutty in taste and soft in texture. Most variety of sweet, creamy pumpkins or squash would work such as butternut.
Tahini is a Middle Eastern paste made from toasted sesame seeds. It has a nutty, earthy taste and can be a little bitter. Supermarkets usually stock Tahini jars in the health section.
Roasted sesame seeds – Roasting sesame seeds give it a nutty flavour. Some Asian groceries store sell sesame seeds already roasted. However, if you can’t find this, you can easily roast them yourself by dry frying the sesame seeds in a skillet over high heat for a few minutes until they are golden and aromatic.
Ground sumac is a popular seasoning used in the Middle East. It has a brick red colour with a tangy citrus taste. Supermarkets stock sumac in their spice racks or near them.
How to make Pumpkin Hummus with Prawns and Za’atar
Step-by-step guide with photos
For the roast pumpkin – preheat the oven to 200°C (390°F) or 180°C (360°F) for fan-forced ovens. In a large bowl, place in the chopped pumpkin with salt, olive and sesame oil, toss to coat. Line a baking tray with baking paper (parchment paper) and layout the pumpkin. Roast the pumpkin for 30 minutes or until they are very soft. Don’t worry if it’s a little charred as it adds flavour and won’t affect the overall colour of the hummus.
For the hummus – Whilst the pumpkin is roasting, cook the chickpeas. In a small saucepan, add in the chickpeas and chopped garlic. Pour enough water to submerge the chickpeas by at least 1 inch. Bring the chickpeas to a boil over high heat, reduce heat to low and let it simmer for 5 minutes. Reserve 1/3 cup of water from the chickpeas then drain the remaining water. Set the chickpeas and garlic aside.
In a food processor, place in the roast pumpkin, chickpeas, garlic, tahini, lemon, cumin, reserved water and blitz until smooth. Whilst the motor is still running, pour in the olive oil in a slow, steady stream. Have a taste of the Pumpkin Hummus and add salt or pepper if needed. Transfer the hummus into a bowl and leave it to cool at room temperature. Transfer the hummus into a sealed container and place it in the fridge for 1 to 2 hours to allow the hummus to thicken.
Make the Za’atar and cook the prawns
For the Za’atar – Place the sesame seeds, thyme and sumac into a small bowl and mix to combine.
For the prawns – Once the hummus has finished chilling, stir-fry the prawns. To mince the prawns, place them into a food processor and pulse a few times. Heat oil in a small frying pan over medium to high heat. Place in the garlic and chilli and stir-fry quickly for 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add in the prawns, stirring, and breaking them up at the same time. Stir-fry until the prawns are opaque or just cooked.
To Plate up – Place the Pumpkin Hummus into a bowl, use a spoon to create swirls on top. Pour on some extra virgin olive oil on top. Sprinkle the za’atar on top and add on the prawns. Optional garnish – Top with corn chips, chickpeas and micro herbs. Serve the Pumpkin hummus with corn chips or flatbread.
Leftovers – Plain pumpkin hummus (no topping) will keep for up to 3 days refrigerated in a sealed container.
Looking for another pumpkin recipe? try out this super easy THAI CHICKEN AND PUMPKIN STIR FRY. If you want to scare people on Halloween try out these SCARY BLOODY ICE CREAMS
Cooking measurements are in Australian standard spoon and cup measurements.
A Third-Party Application calculated the calories and nutritional information. Please use this as an approximate guide only.
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Cheers (I’ll drink to that) – Cat Tre
Pumpkin Hummus with Prawns and Za’atar
Ingredients
For the roast pumpkin
- 600 gm pumpkin (peeled and chopped into 3cm pieces) (NOTE 1)
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp light olive oil
For the hummus
- 150 gm canned chickpeas (drained & rinsed)
- 2 cloves garlic (roughly chopped)
- 200 gm tahini (NOTE 2)
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1½ tbsp fresh lemon juice
- ¾ cup light or mild olive oil
For the Za'atar
- 2 tbsp finely chopped thyme
- 2 tbsp roasted sesame seeds (NOTE 3)
- 2 tsp ground sumac (NOTE 4)
For the prawns
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 clove garlic (minced)
- 1 small red chilli (finely copped)
- 200 gm raw prawns (devein and peeled)
Optional toppings
- Extra virgin olive oil
- micro herbs
- corn chips
Instructions
- For the roast pumpkin – preheat the oven to 200°C (390°F) or 180°C (360°F) for fan-forced ovens. In a large bowl, place in the chopped pumpkin with salt, olive and sesame oil, toss to coat. Line a baking tray with baking paper (parchment paper) and layout the pumpkin. Roast the pumpkin for 30 minutes or until they are very soft. Don't worry if it's a little charred as it adds flavour and won't affect the overall colour of the hummus.
- For the hummus – Whilst the pumpkin is roasting, cook the chickpeas. In a small saucepan, add in the chickpeas and chopped garlic. Pour enough water to submerge the chickpeas by at least 1 inch. Bring the chickpeas to a boil over high heat, reduce heat to low and let it simmer for 5 minutes. Reserve 1/3 cup of water from the chickpeas then drain the remaining water. Set the chickpeas and garlic aside.
- In a food processor, place in the roast pumpkin, chickpeas, garlic, tahini, lemon, cumin, reserved water and blitz until smooth. Whilst the motor is still running, pour in the olive oil in a slow, steady stream. Have a taste of the Pumpkin Hummus and add salt or pepper if needed. Transfer the hummus into a bowl and leave it to cool at room temperature. Transfer the hummus into a sealed container and place it in the fridge for 1 to 2 hours to allow the hummus to thicken.
- For the Za'atar – Place the sesame seeds, thyme and sumac into a small bowl and mix to combine.
- For the prawns – Once the hummus has finished chilling, stir-fry the prawns. To mince the prawns, place them into a food processor and pulse a few times. Heat oil in a small frying pan over medium to high heat. Place in the garlic and chilli and stir-fry quickly for 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add in the prawns, stirring, and breaking them up at the same time. Stir-fry until the prawns are opaque or just cooked.
- To Plate up – Place the Pumpkin Hummus into a bowl, use a spoon to create swirls on top. Pour on some extra virgin olive oil on top. Sprinkle the za'atar on top and add on the prawns. Optional garnish – Top with corn chips, chickpeas and micro herbs. Serve the Pumpkin hummus with corn chips or flatbread.
