Traditional Garbanzo Bean (Chickpea) Hummus

Ingredients

4 c cooked garbanzo beans (a.k.a chickpeas) My Lebanese friend only uses Progresso brand
2 lemons juiced
2 FAT garlic cloves or 4 - 6 skinny ones
2/3 c tahini
1 1/2 tsp Kosher salt
6 - 8 T ice cold water
2 - 3 T olive oil for garnish
1 - 2 tsp paprika for garnish

Instructions

Place the garbanzo beans, garlic, and lemon juice in a food processor and blitz until it turns into a thick paste.
With the machine running, add the tahini and salt. Then add the cold water one T at a time until you get a creamy paste with a smooth texture.
Transfer it to a serving bowl, cover, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Garnish with olive oil and paprika.

Notes

Fresh garlic can have an astringent, harsh aftertaste. Let the hummus rest 30 minutes before tasting and deciding there is too much garlic.

This makes a lot of hummus - the recipe can easily be halved. The important part is to blitz however many beans you have, add some garlic and tahini, and use cold water to get the creamy texture. (You don't need to add extra olive oil to make it thinner.)

I used a one-pound bag of organic garbanzo beans and cooked them in a pressure cooker. (Put one pound unsoaked, dry beans in a pressure cooker, add 7 - 8 cups of water - enough to make sure the beans are covered by 2 - 3 inches of water and select "beans, 25 minutes.") The one-pound bag will yield about 7 cups cooked beans.

If you want a more flavorful hummus, try adding cumin, paprika, sumac*, or cayenne pepper.