Beetroot Hummus, Avocado & Feta on Sourdough

inspired by Avobar

As predicted the day after our kitchen wall came down it started to rain. However I don’t think anyone is going to be holding me accountable. After the heatwave we have just had rain feels amazing.

What doesn’t feel amazing, however, is trying to get your last batch of cooking done during a heatwave.

Over the last week I could say that I’ve gone a bit mad. Completely mad in fact. Because who else would decide that a heatwave was the perfect time to roast, bake and boil in a kitchen. Just me.

I blame the greengages.

We have what (until very recently) we believed to be a plum tree in our garden. I assumed that those green fruit still had ages to go before they turned purple and ripened. Until they started dropping off the tree that is. Then it became perfectly apparent that these fruit were in fact ripe now. And they definitely were not plums.

They were greengages.

This is how I found myself, two days before the kitchen needed to be emptied, pondering what to do with a glut of ripe fruit. The answer was simple. I was going to make jam. For the very first time.

So there I was in my half empty kitchen, watching fruit and sugar boil away in 35°C heat.

Temperature aside, it turns out making jam is really quite easy. The only tricky bit is working out when it’s boiled long enough for it to be set. I used a recipe from The Cottage Smallholder which I followed to the letter.

Their tip of putting plates in the fridge and then drizzling jam onto them was a great method to help me work out when it was set.

I didn’t quite understand what a crinkly track mark on the plate was meant to look like (absolutely no idea if I’m honest) but I could see it thickening. Plus any excuse to open (and linger in front of) the nice cold fridge every few minutes was very welcome.

In the end to be sure I squeezed in a little extra lemon juice, hoping the natural pectin would make sure I had a nice set jam.

So there I was, watching my jam cool in it’s jars (this recipe made three decent sized jars of jam) and I thought…. I know, I should bake some bread.

Back into the fridge (a quick linger, couldn’t help myself) to retrieve my sourdough starter.

The next day the weather is just as hot. My kitchen is even hotter. Because this time I have the oven on too.

Once the sourdough was baking it seemed silly to not use the oven whilst it was hot. So out came some enormous beetroot that had arrived in my Oddbox the day before. Each got wrapped in tin foil and went into the oven for an hour after the bread came out.

So after nearly two hours of the oven raising the temperature in the kitchen to unbearable levels I sat down with some bread and jam, contemplating what to do with my beetroot.

It just so happens that Oddbox also delivered some avocados, that had ripened almost instantly in the heat and so needed eating.

Beetroot and avocado. Sounds like the start of a brunch dish to me…

A quick google of “avocado brunch restaurant dish” and I discover Avobar. Where, as you might have guessed from the name, has a menu that is all about avocados. Avocado butter, avocado brownie. Even an Avocado Colada if you fancy a cocktail.

I think the avo burger bun is a step too far for me. A burger is a messy enough thing to eat without trying to encase the filling in squishy green avocado. I’ve never eaten at Avobar, but I’m guessing most customers would tackle these with a knife and fork.

Thankfully they do have some bread on the menu. Sourdough.

“Beetroot Hummus Toast with Avocado & Feta”

This sounds like the perfect thing to make for lunch. Mainly because it doesn’t involve turning on an over or hob.

I peel the skin away from the cooled beetroot and two of them go into a blender. A tin of chickpeas, a clove of garlic and a couple of dollops of tahini follow. Lemon juice, olive oil, a pinch of cayenne pepper and some salt go in before blitzed until smooth. The hummus is the most amazing purple colour!

I simply pop some sliced sourdough in the toaster, then slather with the hummus and add slices of avocado, crumbled feta and some fresh parsley from the garden.

I sit outside (in the shade) and tuck in. I’m out of the kitchen. Which feels amazing. I wonder how long it will be before I miss cooking. Definitely not until it cools down, that’s for sure.

Leftover hummus goes into the fridge for future lunches. I linger with the door open for a few moments, wondering when the weather will break.

Same time as my kitchen wall. Typical.

Beetroot Hummus, Avocado & Feta on Sourdough

A vibrant beetroot hummus on toasted break with sliced avocado, feta and parsley

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Prep Time 15 mins

Cook Time 1 hr

Total Time 1 hr 15 mins

Course brunch, lunch, Main Course

Servings 1 person

Ingredients

  

Beetroot Hummus

• 2 whole raw beetroot
• 1 tin chickpeas, drained
• 2 tbsp tahini
• 1 lemon
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper
• 1 garlic clove

To Serve

• 1 thick slice of sourdough bread
• 25 g feta
• 1 small ripe avocado
• 1 handful flat leaf parsley
• olive oil

Instructions

 

• Heat your oven to 180°C fan. Make sure the beetroot are clean and chop off any leaves and roots. Wrap eat beetroot tightly in tin foil and place in the oven for about an hour, until they are soft. Leave to cool.
• Peel the beetroot and add to the blender with the other hummus ingredients and a pinch of salt and pepper. Blend until smooth. If it is too thick add a little extra olive oil or water.
• Toast your bread and then spread generously with the beetroot hummus. Slice the avocado and arrange on top. Crumble over the feta and add some roughly chopped parsley and a drizzle of olive oil. Delicious.

Notes

You can use any other type of bread you wish. 

Leftover hummus will keep in the fridge for a few days. 

You could use pre cooked beetroot, simply blitz them with all the other hummus ingredients for an even quicker lunch or snack 

Keyword avocado, beetroot, brunch, feta, hummus, parsley, sourdough