Lemony Hummus Pasta
Published January 16, 2025
Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Spencer Richards.
- Total Time
- 30 minutes
- Prep Time
- 10 minutes
- Cook Time
- 20 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
Salt
12 ounces spaghetti or bucatini
¼ cup olive oil
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 large shallot, finely chopped
1 cup plain hummus (store-bought or homemade)
1 lemon, zested and juiced
Tender herb leaves of your choice, for serving
Toasted sesame seeds, optional
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
80 grams carbs; 619 calories; 14 grams monounsaturated fat; 8 grams polyunsaturated fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 27 grams fat; 8 grams fiber; 481 milligrams sodium; 17 grams protein; 5 grams sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente, reserving 1 cup of the pasta cooking water, then drain pasta and set aside.
- Step 2
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium and add the garlic, shallot and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring often, until fragrant and slightly softened, about 2 minutes, then add the hummus and ½ cup of the reserved pasta water. Stir until the hummus becomes a looser, smoother sauce. Stir in lemon zest and juice. Turn heat down to medium-low.
- Step 3
Add the pasta to the pan, toss very well to coat, season with salt to taste, and toss again, adding more reserved pasta water if needed to create desired consistency. Transfer to serving bowls or plates. Drizzle with more olive oil, if desired, and top with the herbs and sesame seeds, if desired. Serve immediately.
Private Notes
Comments
I added steamed broccoli and already cooked chicken breast (thin small pieces) and it was delicious. The lemon/hummus was creamy and great with the pasta… - added some fresh basil at the end.
Wonderful budget-friendly vegetarian dish with lots of plant protein! Needing "something" at the end, I quickly sauteed broccoli rabe and sweet red pepper for on top of the finished pasta, giving it extra pop and nutrition. Made as written, using Mark Bittman's Hummus recipe. Besides the veg, only other change was additional pasta water. Needed more for the leftovers next day too, glad I'd saved plenty. Make sure you save lots! I really enjoyed this.
Not a bad recipe! At first I wasn't too sure about the hummus as a base at first, but it turned out well. Definitely make your own hummus (I cooked the chickpeas in a pressure cookerwith 1 part chickpeas, 3 parts water for 55 minutes, natural release for 15 minutes). I'd also recommend a touch more garlic and going for a lemon on the larger side.
It was very good, but the zest and juice from a whole lemon ended up overpowering the dish. The lemon flavor dominated. Next time I would only add the zest and leave out the juice. Let the other flavors emerge.
Reserve ALL of the pasta water. Since the hummus sauce will firm up quite a bit when served, you'll want to make it fairly loose. Nice, quick dinner reminiscent of other, more traditional Italian pasta dishes with garbanzos.
This was AMAZING!! Classically, I subbed a few ingredients: didn’t have onion so just used minced garlic and roasted garlic paste, and also added cherry tomatoes and spinach. The hummus I used was hot honey flavored and had some oil that I added to the emulsion- topped with some dried basil at the end and voilà, magnifique!!