Roasted Carrot Hummus starter or snack

This Roasted Carrot Hummus could be a light supper dish or a starter. I made it as a starter and it went down really well and all the women asked for the recipe which is praise enough for me! It comes from Flora Shedden’s cookbook, Gatherings: Recipes for Feasts Great and Small (Mitchell Beazley, £25) is available from Amazon HERE.

CREDIT: CHARLOTTE TOLHURST

Roasted Carrot Hummus

Ingredients: serves 6-8 as a snack or starter

300g baby carrots, ideally organic

2 tbsp honey

Olive oil for drizzling

½ tsp cumin seeds

5 sprigs fresh thyme

1 x 400g tin chickpeas, drained

Juice of 1 lemon

2 tbsp tahini

Natural yogurt to serve

Roasted, chopped hazelnuts to serve

How to prepare:

Preheat the oven to 200℃/Gas 6. Scrub the baby carrots, leaving skin on. You can also leave their little green trimmed stalks on. Lay out on a baking tray then drizzle with the honey and a little olive oil. Season, then scatter over the cumin and thyme.

Toss together then roast for 20 minutes until soft (larger carrots may take longer to roast).

Allow the carrots to cool then place half of them (stalks now trimmed) in a food processor with the chickpeas, lemon juice and tahini. Season this lightly then blitz until smooth.

Spoon the hummus on to a large serving plate and swirl it around with the back of a spoon. Top with the remaining whole roasted carrots then drizzle with a little yogurt. Decorate withthe hazelnuts, more olive oil and some black pepper. Serve with good bread.