Avocado Hummus, a classic dish at Momed Restaurant, Beverly Hills, CA

8 years ago

The back yard of our second house in south Florida was a
small garden of Eden. We had a prolific mango tree, 2 abundant avocado trees, grapefruit and orange trees, and a small Meyer lemon tree. We loved that yard
and all that it provided.

Back then the only recipe I made with the avocados was
guacamole. The avocado has become more sophisticated in its recipe
applications, and I’ve tried to branch-out in my use of them, too.

Today you’ll find avocados used in omelets (I love a
crab-avocado omelet!), pastas, salads, salad dressings, soups, desserts – such as
mousse and ice cream, cocktails (margaritas), of course, the very popular, often expensive menu item – avocado toast, and naturally, hummus.

There’s a restaurant in Beverly Hills, CA called Momed,
short for modern Mediterranean. The owner, Alex Sarkissian, has been serving
avocado hummus at his establishment ever since it opened almost ten years ago. He
calls this particular hummus one of his ‘classic dishes’, in fact, a ‘superstar’-
on the menu.

Their recipe is a simple blend of pureed avocados with garlic, lime and lemon juice, tahini, cumin and a touch of salt – no chickpeas required. Mr. Sarkissian notes that the recipe does not taste like guacamole due to the addition of tahini.

Dana Slatkin, chef, Culinary Institute of America grad and cookbook author interviewed Mr. Sarkissian when his restaurant first opened. He shared the avocado hummus recipe with her, and I’m passing it on to you.

(See my quickie version below!)

Momed’s Avocado Hummus

Makes about 1 cup

Ingredients:

2 medium ripe avocados

1/4 cup tahini (ground sesame) paste

1 tablespoon minced garlic

2 teaspoons ground cumin (preferably toasted until
fragrant)

1 lemon, juiced

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (optional)

Sea salt, to taste

Directions:

In a food processor, blend all the ingredients except the
oil. Through the top of the machine, slowly pour in the oil (You may not need
to use it all.). Season to taste with salt and transfer to a serving bowl.

Notes: If you’re not serving this immediately, place
plastic wrap directly on the surface of the hummus to prevent discoloration.
Can be made 1 day ahead.

If you prefer a heartier hummus, Dana suggests blending-in ½ cup or more of
canned, drained, chick peas.

Serve with pita bread triangles, pita chips, crackers, and/or
vegetable sticks

FYI: avocado hummus tastes really good on toast!

My quickie version of Avocado Hummus:

My super-quick version of Avocado Hummus

I had one small, ripe Hass avocado waiting to be used. After peeling and de-seeding it, I added about a teaspoon or 2 of tahini, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, and a sprinkling of salt, cumin and garlic powder. Mashed it with a fork until smooth and served it on thin crunchy crackers.