Lebanese Hummus with Marinated Lamb a Sephardic dish

Lebanese Hummus With Marinated Lamb serves 6

For hummus:
2 cups dried chickpeas
1 cup tahini
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
11/4 teaspoons salt
11/2 tablespoons lemon juice
5 cloves garlic, ground in food processor
2 to 21/2 cups water

For meat:
1/2 pound lamb chops, first or second cut, meat sliced from bone
2 medium red onions, peeled and chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon sumac (fruit-based Israeli spice, see note)
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons pine nuts

For garnish: 1 cup chopped parsley
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon olive, or more if needed

To make hummus, sift through chick peas, rinsing well and discarding pebbles or broken or discolored peas. In a large bowl, soak peas for 8 hours or overnight. Rinse chick peas; place in heavy soup pan with 2 quarts of water. Bring to boil; lower heat and simmer for about 11/2 to 2 hours or until very tender. Drain well, reserving cooking liquid. Cool slightly. Grind peas in food processor until smooth. (At this point, you can place chick peas in a freezer bag and freeze until ready to use. To defrost, take them out of freezer in the evening; in the morning, add rest of ingredients and proceed to make hummus.)

Place chick peas, tahini, ground garlic and spices in an electric mixer or food processor. Add 1 cup water and blend until very creamy. If it seems too dry, add more water.

Marinate lamb with onions, spices, pine nuts and olive oil and let sit overnight. Saute marinated meat, and cook until tender.

To serve, spoon hummus on a serving plate, spreading it so edges are thicker than center. Scoop out a circle in center of hummus. Place meat in center, sprinkle with parsley and pepper flakes. Drizzle with olive oil.

* For vegetarian dish, substitute mushrooms for lamb. Also, if sumac is unavailable, substitute an equal amount of finely grated lemon zest.

Source: Adapted from chef Ariel Kars and co-owner Patricio Felsenstein, Naomi Grill, Madrid, Spain, and Eti Cohen, chef-owner of Maxim's in Cherry Hill, Pa.