Name: Anchovy and Butter Bean Hummus
Prep time: 10 min
Total time: 10 min
Yield: 4 people
Ingredients: 1 tin beans ((1 cup)drained and rinsed); 60 g anchovy pâté ((3 tbsp) to taste); 1 tbs olive oil; 1 tbs lemon juice; 1/2 tsp herbes de Provence; pepper (to taste); chives (to garnish - optional)

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A delicious adaption of standard hummus: the addition of anchovies adds a tasty salty kick.

It should be vaguely apparent to the regular reader that I like dips, really quite a ~~bit~~ lot. What I do not like are most shop dips, expensive, laden with fats and oil and unnecessary ingredients (guacamole with added cream anyone?)

A homemade hummus is a thing of beauty, endlessly customise-able, far more affordable and better tasting than many shop bought alternatives.

Both beans and chickpeas are cheap, filled with protein and have a relatively mellow taste which makes them the ideal “filler” for more expensive or intensely flavoured ingredients. I usually buy dried beans and pulses, then soak and cook them myself before free freezing them, but also always keep a few tins handy too.

I was recently sent some goodies from the Vaucluse area of Provence, which included a packet of concentrated anchovy pate and herbes de Provence. I especially liked the anchovy pate which was fantastically smooth and deeply concentrated and intensely flavoured, perfect to flavour my beans in a hummus.

I served the resultant dip with a simple salad and delicious crispbreads from Peter’s Yard (a recent discovery and new favourite), which made a quick easy and healthy lunch.

In the absence of anchovy pate you could try using Patum Peperium (Gentlemen’s Relish) or “melt” a tin of anchovies gently in a frying pan and pass through a sieve to remove the bones. Use any sort of mildly flavoured beans. I freeze my lemon juice in ice cube trays so I always have fresh to hand in the freezer.