Guest Post from Taste of Beirut

It is with pleasure to give you all another guest post from a cool blog named Taste of Beirut, a great blog featuring delicious Lebanese cuisine, enjoy......

Joumana is a Lebanese-American, brought up in Beirut, Lebanon. Multilingual. Have been cooking and baking for 30 years. Stints at bakeries and pastry shops in the US. Wants to explore and share Lebanese cuisine because it is very healthy, delicious, and not very well known (except for hummos and tabbooleh, which are usually misrepresented).

Pumpkin Hummos يقطين بالطحينه

In the US, when you say pumpkin, one immediately pictures a creamy, sweet and luscious pumpkin pie. In Lebanon, although we do have a pumpkin confection, pumpkin is also savory and a mezze component, hence this dish. This is a dip and is prepared just like the hummos be-tahineh. It has the same lilting flavor of garlic and lemon and the pumpkin gives it an ethereal taste, instead of the somewhat heavy and rustic feel found in the chick pea hummos.

This recipe is adapted from Middle-Eastern Cuisine by Sima Osman Yassine and Sadouf Kamal

INGREDIENTS: This quantity will serve up to 6

• Pumpkin, any size. I used a 2 pound pumpkin
• Lemon juice from one and a half lemon
• 4 garlic cloves, mashed with a pinch of salt
• tahineh, about 2 tablespoons
• parsley ( garnish, optional)

METHOD:

1. Cut the pumpkin in small pieces and discard the strings and if you like save the seeds
2. Place the pieces in a pan and add some water to come up to about half-way.
3. Place the pan in the oven and bake at a moderate heat (about 350F) for about 30 minutes
4. Check by inserting a knife in the pumpkin pieces. Remove from the oven when cooked. Cool a bit. Peel.
5. Place the pumpkin slices in a colander and drain well.
6. Mash either in a food mill or in the processor using pulses.
7. Mash the garlic and mix with the lemon juice. Add the tahineh and stir to mix all well.
8. Add the tahineh mixture to the pumpkin. Pulse to mix and taste to adjust the seasoning.
9. Place in a serving dish, sprinkle either with ground cumin or chopped parsley.
10. Serve with pita triangles, fresh or toasted. Sahteyn!