Theo Michaels is a Masterchef semi-finalist, celebrity chef with regular appearances on This Morning and BBC Radio, private dining chef, restaurateur and author. He is known for creating elegant village food – inspired by his Greek heritage, as well as healthy, fast and innovative spins on classic family favourites. Please visit www.theocooks.com for more information about his books, recipes and cooking adventures (he’s currently on a tour of Thailand cooking for VIPs in the best resorts!). He has created this unique Hummus Ice Cream recipe in honour of International Hummus Day, this Saturday May 13th! https://hummusday.com/
“So, who knew you could make ice cream out of chickpeas!? I’ve purposely created this recipe to be ‘free-from’. It’s gluten free, dairy free, it’s pretty much everything free – if it was anymore ‘free-from’ you’d be eating frozen air!
The following recipe is perfect for experimenting with and adding other flavours to. The use of olive oil in ice cream has been done for many years but in this instance it really helps give the hummus ice cream some texture as it is void of any cream or milk ergo fat.
If you are not lactose intolerant you can of course replace the soy milk with cream.”
Hummus Ice Cream
Ingredients:
1 tin of chickpeas
60ml olive oil
185ml soy milk
90ml caster sugar
Seeds from 1 vanilla pod (or few drops of vanilla essence)
2 tbsp maple syrup
Method:
- Open tin of chickpeas and drain liquid from the tin – reserve the liquid.
- Add to the chickpeas the soy milk, vanilla seeds or essence and two thirds of the sugar (60ml), maple syrup and blend until smooth. Once done pass the mixture through a fine sieve and reserve.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the leftover chickpea liquid from the tin until you start to get soft peaks appearing (you want something resembling a meringue). Slowly add the remaining sugar and whisk until fully incorporated (a few drops of vanilla essence in the meringue is fine to do).
- Fold the chickpea puree into the meringue until fully incorporated.
- Place in an ice cream maker and let it stir until frozen and creamy. Alternatively, simply pop into a plastic container in your freezer and give it a firm stir every couple of hours until frozen.
Chef’s Tips:
- Try adding different flavours into the ice cream; a shot of espresso, some mashed raspberries or even swapping the soy milk for coconut cream.
- If you are not after a 100% ‘free from’ ice cream swap the soy milk for almond milk or even cream.
- Try to use a light or fruity olive oil and avoid peppery ones unless you fancy that!
About Theo Michaels:
Theo was born in London (a while ago), lived in America for five years and has eaten his way around most of the planet with a backpack. He is now married with three children and no way will his wife backpack again.
After reaching the semi-finals for Masterchef 2014, Theo quit his city job of 15 years to follow his passion and work fulltime in ‘food’. He’s never looked back.
Theo is now an accomplished private chef (currently booked six months in advance), runs a successful pop-up restaurant with more than 700 on the waiting list and is known for cooking ‘elegant village food’ inspired by the flavours of Cyprus and his travels.
Theo has appeared on BBC Breakfast News, Sky TV, The Food Network, is a regular on BBC 3CR Weekend Kitchen show and is called upon by the national press for comment and interview on private dining, food and drink trends and for recipe inspiration. He’s also regularly spotted cooking at food festivals. Theo’s inspiration for food varies from his roots, his travels to cooking for his family and his love of anything cooked over charcoal.
Online:
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/c/theomichaelscooks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHgFDn1OXGo
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/theocooks
Twitter https://twitter.com/TheoCooks
Pinterest https://uk.pinterest.com/theomichaels/
