Crescentine

I had never seen a rolling pin that long in my life.

Nor the bread board to match.

It was about as big around as my rolling pin back in The States—as thick as Coke can, maybe less—but it was over three feet long and rounded on one end. The other end had a rounded knob affixed. It looked like a scepter for a chef. The bread board was a big as my kitchen table, dusted with flour. On that sat an unassuming round of dough.

We were in Imola for dinner, invited by some ward members for a feast (a feast!). When we neared the front door and the smell of what was to come filled my nose I could already tell this would be a memorable meal. When we walked in the kitchen I saw familiar faces from church scurrying about the neatly white-tiled space. A large stove and oven filled one deep corner of the room. A forno a legna (wood burning oven) occupied the other. It was a picturesque Italian kitchen. Filled with dishes and fruit and good smells.

An older woman worked the ball of dough in the center of the room. She wielded the rolling pin like it was an extension of her body. She rolled, pressed, extended, peeled, flipped, rolled. She gathered the dough up around the pin and then laid it out flat again, this time imperceptibly thinner. In a flourish of motion and grace (I'm serious, it was like an art form) the dough was rolled flat and nearly perfectly round. Then, using a dough cutter with scalloped edges she quickly trimmed the round into small diamonds and tossed them in the frying pan. It was obvious she had probably been doing this for twice as many years as I've been alive.

Homemade crescentine. Delicious, hint of sweet, straight from Bologna, traditional Italian fried bread. I think I ate a dozen. Maybe two.

Crescentine Bolognese

1 kg. flour
300 gr stracchino (a soft, mild cheese that I'm really hoping I can find in The States)
2 packs lievato torte salate (I'll have to play with leavenings in The States. This is a white powder, but it's neither baking soda, nor baking powder . . .)
2 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
milk- add until you get a firm dough
* use less milk if stracchino is more liquidy

Roll out flat, cut into squares (or fancy diamonds), fry until just golden.

So we don't have to wonder next year

This year we put Ada to bed and had a nice dinner at home. For my records, we had:

Antipasti

Olives, Artichoke hearts, and fresh bread 

in oil and balsalmic

Pear and Prosciutto "Carpaccio"

Zuppa

Roasted-Carrot Soup

Insalata

Folie di Quercia with a sweet lemon dressing

Primi Piatti

Orecchiette with Orange-Spiced Lamb Meatballs

Contorno

Roasted mixed vegetables

Dolce

Chocolate cake with Bacio Gelato

We were so full after dinner we could hardly move. We got about six feet from the table (to the couch), and while talking about what would go on the soundtrack to our life, fell asleep. The ultimate Valentines Food Coma. It was so good.

Mostly, it was just sweet to celebrate us; to celebrate that we're here together and working to make our life the way we want it to be. So far, I think we're doing a pretty good job.

Snippets

So far, Autumn in Bologna is rain, rain, rain. This makes trips to the park a non-possibility and trips to the library a more burdensome one. But I am learning quickly that it's better to bear the brief burden than hole-up inside until the storm passes.

Ada had a particularly needy day yesterday. There were a few hours where the only things keeping me going were Chocolate Nutella Cookies. I ate well over a dozen. Let's not talk about it anymore.

I heard a boy singing in the streets today. He was riding his bike and belting Justin Bieber. He had a great voice. But I couldn't understand a word the English lyrics which made me giggle.

Same said boy started making machine-gun type sounds with his friend and Ada was startled awake. I looked at them, said, "Shh! Lei dorme." And they said "Scusi Signore." The formal reply made me feel old and important.

My Italian is (barely) coming along. I need to go find more people to talk to who aren't between the ages of 2 and 5.

We have a slug problem. As in, slugs sneak under our back door. You would have thought Mike was gearing up to fight something ferocious by the way he was pacing and fretting last night. After he settled down we grabbed a piece of paper (to fling them outside with) and drew a line of salt (Voodoo style--okay it's salt, not red dust, but you get the picture) for defense.

Slugs and all, I still am stopped in my tracks everyday because this city is so beautiful.

where the pigeons live.

Apple Pie alla Bolognese

Yesterday was a perfect day.

We were up early, made breakfast and ate as a family. Ada went down for her nap and I updated her baby book, picked up around the house, got ready for my class, and got her up (what? I have to wake you up from naps now?) to head off to the Bologna Center.

I love riding through the city with Ada. She likes it too. She holds onto my thumbs like they're little handlebars, and kicks her legs.  As I peddle I sing and babble back while she rings the bell and leans back to look at me as if to say, "Mom, this may be the greatest thing we do together."

Mikey and I did the baby hand off/switch, I scurried up the stairs to class and sat down for an hour and thirty minutes. The minutes flew by. I'm so excited for this class. My teacher is a tall Italian woman with big, curly hair (looser curls, but still frizzy), round, clear-framed glasses, lots of jewelry and even more personality. Yesterday she wore a checkered shirt and a corduroy vest. (I'm telling you I've never seen an Italian woman not dressed well and looking completely put together.) I hope I can soak up as much language as I can.

After class Ada and I rode home. She giggled and rang the bell as we bumped along the cobble stones. We got home and shared leftovers (zucchini, potato and tomato gratin) and she went down for her afternoon nap.

Then I painted. I have three paintings in the works. I was happy with what I did yesterday. I painted a tiny far away city. It's been so long since I've painted like this. I'm loving, loving, loving it. Ada slept for two and a half hours.

Mikey came home early. After he had a nap (while Ada and I dropped by the grocery store), we spent a bit of time cleaning up the backyard and playing outside as a family. I started dinner and left those two to hang outside. Soon Mikey knocked on the window and held up Ada. She was stripped down to her diaper and apparently slipping all over the freshly-mopped back porch. Mikey brought her in, wiped her off and reintroduced her to friction.

We had simple meal of BLT's (well, really PLT's -- pancetta, lettuce and tomato) and fruit for dinner.
And after dinner I taught Ada the proper way to roll out pie crust and keep it from breaking apart. Though we live in Italy, we can still carry on with feasting on fall harvests like Americans. I started prepping my apples. Cinnamon, a bit of sugar, nutmeg to taste, three tablespoons of flour should do it . . . even while just mixing the filling together my kitchen started to smell like Autumn.

I put Ada to bed and then finished prepping and chilling before I baked a beautiful All-American Apple Pie alla Bolognese.

Mikey and I shared a quarter of it with some vanilla gelato on top (we're still in Italy, after all) and talked about how great life is when you manage time well and put the important stuff first. Like warm apple pies. :)

Il Mercato

Friday Mikey had the day off. Waiver exams were completed (and passed!), classes were prepared for, and to-dos were mostly checked off the list. We spent the morning cleaning the floor and then headed out to the Mercato di Mezzo in the center of town. It's a conglomeration of tiny vicoli and strade packed with vendors selling fruit, vegetables, fish, cured meats, cheeses and a myriad of other goods. In the New York Times travel article on Bologna, they called the area around the Mercato di Mezzo a "gastronomic must."

image via

The produce was more expensive than another street market we stop by on the way to SAIS, so we stuck to having an experience in the meat department and later bought our produce at the street market in the Piazza Aldrovandi.

image via

See the guy on the left? He was the same one who helped me (by happenstance. I didn't even know the salumeria in the photo was the one we went to until I was browsing the NYT article). I was slightly disappointed with my experience because I practiced all the phrases I thought I would need to know before we headed over. Then I didn't know you had to take a number. And there are a lot of phrases about sorry and not knowing about the number thingy that I hadn't practiced. And I asked for dodici grammi di pancetta — the amount my recipe called for — not really putting it together that I was asking for like half an ounce. The guy looked at me like I was really confused. I was confused. I just wanted 12 grams. Not 100. I ended up getting a centigrammi di pancetta anyway. There's nothing wrong with having left over pancetta right?

I understand how the metric system works, I just don't really have in my head what 100 grams looks, feels and tastes like. I'm getting there though.

To finish up grocery shopping Mike and I headed to the market near our place to get the rest of what we needed for dinner that night. The recipe called for Marsala Wine. Being the big drinkers that we are (wink) we had a hard time figuring out what Marsala Wine looked like. We stood in front of a wall of wine bottles for probably 10 minutes with puzzled looks on our faces. We ended up just getting a generic white wine, only to find out when we got home that Marsala is a red wine. We have so much to learn.

However, obstacles or not, we were determined to have a delicious dinner. Macaroni Grill style. We picked up some fresh rosmarino di pane at a panificio on the way home and I got to work sauteing, adding, reducing, chopping, cooking and baking. The result was delicious.

Here's the recipe:

Penne Rustica
adapted from this one on Food.com
serves 4-6


Gratinata sauce

1 t butter
1 t minced garlic
1/2 t Dijon mustard
1 t rosemary
1/2 c marsala wine (or white wine, if you're a bonehead like me)
1/4 t cayenne pepper
3 1/4

Directions for sauce:

- Saute butter, garlic and rosemary until garlic begins to brown
- Add wine, reduce by one third (boil rapidly until the volume decreases by a third)
- Add remaining ingredients. Reduce by half. (While boiling, start in on pasta). Set aside.

 Penne Rustica

8 - 10 oz penne pasta, cooked
1/2 ounce pancetta (or bacon)
5 oz grilled chicken breasts, sliced
8 shrimp (we didn't buy/use any)
1/8 c butter
1 T chopped shallot (the white part)
pinch of salt and pepper
3/4 c Parmesan cheese
paprika

Directions:

- Cook pasta according to package directions
- Grill chicken (I just did mine in a pan on the stove) and season lightly
- Preheat the oven to 425
- Saute pancetta until it begins to brown
- Add butter and shallots (and shrimp, if using. Cook until shrimp are evenly pink but still translucent)
- Add chicken, salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly.
- Add gratinata sauce and 1/2 of Parmesan cheese.
- Simmer until the sauce thickens (and your pasta is done cooking).
- Combine with cooked and drained pasta.
- But in a casserole dish, top with remaining cheese and sprinkle with paprika.
- Bake at 425 for 10 minutes.

Grilled Pizza

Mikey and I are part of a weekly dinner group. Weekly sounds intense, but it has been awesome. I cook one Tuesday a month and get fed the other three. It rocks.  It's fun to catch up, share recipes, and show up at someone's place to eat and not even have a food assignment.

At our last gathering, we made a few grilled pizzas. I've been working on finding my favorite crust recipe since I made my first homemade pizza years ago. Figuring out the perfect way to cook it is another story. Most people say you need a HOT (as in, crank your oven up to 500 degrees and let it sit there for an hour before putting your pizza in). It's summer, folks. No 500 degree ovens here. We tried the grill method and I must say that grilling has moved to the top of the list.

I read my fair share of recipe blogs. Dinner: A Love Story is one of my favorites. She did a post on grilled pizza a week or so ago and I took her six rules to heart. They are probably my new Six Commandments of Pizza Grilling.

For the crust this time, we used a recipe (scroll to the bottom of her post) sans olive oil that another blogger said grilled up really nicely. Truly the easiest crust ever (and it tastes great too).

As far as toppings go we had three varieties:

BBQ Chicken pizza.  Grill style.

 The first was a BBQ Chicken. Has anyone else tried Williams Sonoma's BBQ Sauces? They're awesome. We topped it with mozzarella, grilled chicken, and red onions. Grill as per the two posts above. You can't go wrong.

Our second pizza was a veggie with zucchini, green and orange peppers, onions, and tomatoes. Saute your veggies first and I sprinkled them with Italian Seasoning. Yum.

Gorgonzola, apple, walnut, caramelized onions, balsamic . . .

The third was my favorite. It was of the sauceless variety topped with Gorgonzola cheese, thinly sliced apples, chopped walnuts, and caramelized onions. After it comes off the grill, top it with a pile of arugula, drizzle the whole thing with balsamic vinegar and top with freshly cracked pepper.

. . . topped with arugula and sprinkle of fresh pepper.

*photos courtesy of Ms. Hanna Colleen

Miércoles, the day that sounds like miracles

We had some of Mikey's ward members over on Monday night for Family Home Evening. We were told it was just going to be one group (20 people--or less) so I decided to use up the rest of my peaches, before all 14 of them went bad, and make a big batch of peach cobbler. (I used this recipe. It was awesome. And magic. Read on).

As I sat and watched as the students arrived in groups of fours and fives I soon realized that we would have a lot more than the 14 or so students I was told to plan on. Try twice that many. Plus a few stragglers.

I went to the oven and thought what a measly offer it was for thirty-or-so people, and I blessed our trip to the grocery store earlier that day for the extra gallon of ice cream we got. We'd need every bit.

I took the cobbler out of the oven. It was hot and bubbly and smelled like the last few days of summer. I second guessed taking it up stairs. Maybe we could just settle on ice cream and chocolate sauce? I did have half a dozen pumpkin cookies from Saturday. . . Maybe this will be a lesson in sharing? Mikey can make it an object lesson? We can roll dice for dessert? Only winners in the game can eat? Only people expecting a child can eat? Girls only?

I began cutting up the cobbler and decided to cut it into 25 servings. Crazy. We served it with ice cream and I couldn't believe how full the bowls were. It was the miracle of the loaves and the fishes I tell you! Everyone ate. And it didn't seem like a pathetic excuse for a refreshment. It was more than a mouthful. It was a portion. A real life portion.

I didn't catch who gave the opening prayer and blessed the food, but they must have done a darn good job.

Cinnamon Peach Chili

The name, I think, is slightly misleading. However, the end result = summer in your mouth. We went to the Provo Farmer's Market last Saturday (one of my favorite things to do during the Summer months and into the Fall) and bought veggies to pair with the vegetables aplenty we've been putting to good use from neighborhood gardens. And when I say aplenty, I mean, I made 8 loaves of Zucchini bread last week (that equals twelve cups of shredded Zucchini) and I still had half of a monster Zucchini in my fridge.

But what better way to use (and eat) all these veggies than to chop them up, simmer them down, and feast on the spoils of Summer? 

We adapted a recipe I found here and we gave it three cheers.

image credit

Cinnamon Peach Vegetarian Chili
1 can black beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can pinto beans (be careful opening the cans. I sliced open my knuckle. I still can't figure out how)
4 potatoes chopped in .5" cubes
4 zucchini and/or yellow squash cut in .25" thick slices
4 tomatoes chopped

3 ears of sweet corn - kernels cut off the cob

2 medium onions
2 peaches - depitted and cut in cubes
3-4 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons cumin
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
Salt to taste

 Dump all of your beans, juice and all, in a large chili pot. Add your vegetables and seasoning. Bring to a simmer. Lower heat to the lowest setting possible, cover and let simmer for 2 hours. Stir every 15-30 minutes or so. If the chili is too watery after it simmers down leave the lid off to let some liquid cook off.

Serve over cooked brown rice and top with plain greek yogurt (an excellent sour cream alternative) or goat cheese crumbles. Honey cornbread muffins are a must - I used this recipe.

Chocolate Orange Cupcakes

Her belly is burgeoning and her face is glowing. The little guy inside seems well behaved enough, we're excited to meet him, but mostly we're just curious about what color hair he will have!

In honor of the dueling hair colors, these cupcakes seemed like the perfect treat for the party (that we threw over a month ago. This is procrastination of noteworthy proportions!)

Orange only seemed appropriate (because of daddy of course) but how can you pass up chocolate? I mean really . . . especially when the recipe is as easy and delicious as this:

CHOCOLATE ORANGE CUPCAKES
1 Box Chocolate Cake Mix
Replace Water with Orange Juice
Replace Oil with Grape Seed Oil (this adds a unique flavor and is a much healthier option, but vegetable oil will work just fine if that's what you have on hand)
1/2 Orange Zested
 

Wash your hands. Follow box directions with the added and replaced ingredients.

ORANGE ZEST ICING
4 Cups Powdered Sugar
8 Tablespoons Butter, Softened
3 Tablespoons Orange Juice (add more juice if needed. If you're going to pipe on the icing, make sure the icing is a pretty thick consistency).
1 Orange Zested (or to taste)

Again, wash your hands. If you're anything like me you've just finished licking the batter off your fingers. Next, whip that butter up nice and fluffy. Then add the powdered sugar gradually. Mix in the zest, juice etc. until you reach your desired consistency and taste. If you want it more orange-y but it's gotten too thin, add powdered sugar. (When I do this, it's just one big long game of guess and check...) Use a round piping tip to pipe the icing. To be extra fancy, zest an additional orange for garnish and sprinkle a little raw sugar on top.

And there you have it. Easy peasy! I also tried this same recipe with grapefruit and a white cake mix. Results were excellent! Maybe we'll try strawberry next . . . can you zest a strawberry?

I can't wait to see this little guy. Congrats to mom and dad!

Melting

The easiest cookies in the world.

Melting Moments

3/4 c. butter
1/2 c. powdered sugar
1/2 c. corn starch
1 c. flour
granulated sugar

Mix dry ingredients together, then mix in softened butter. Chill dough. Roll into small balls, then in sugar. Press cookies with a cookie stamp to about 1/4" - 1/2" thickness. Bake at 300 degrees for 18 - 23 minutes, being careful not to overcook!

There you have it. Easy peasy.

ChocZuciBread

I was at the Farmer's Market and bought a zucchini bigger than a baby for 50 cents. This sent Mikey and I (well, mostly just me), into a zucchini bread frenzy. I researched dozens of recipes, compared, contrasted, adapted . . . This is fantastic. I mean, fantastic.

2 1/2 c flour (try half whole wheat)

1/2 c cocoa powder (try dark chocolate cocoa powder)

1 t salt

1 1/2 t baking soda

1 t cinnamon

2 c sugar

2 1/2 c grated zucchini

3 eggs

1/2 c oil

1/2 milk (try chocolate soy milk)

2 t vanilla

Preheat oven at 350.

Sift together the dry ingredients. Combine wet ingredients. Mix together the dry and wet ingredients until combined. Spoon into 2 greased loaf pans. Bake for about an hour, or until toothpick comes out clean.

Enjoy and share with people for the ultimate chocolate zucchini bread experience.

Zucibread

I've made this recipe a few times now and every time it's been fairly delicious. I've been a long time follower of The Kitchen Sink Recipes, this was taken off of their blog. My variations are in italics.

Zucchini-Pecan-Flaxseed Bread
Adapted from Cooking Light

2 1/2 c whole wheat flour
3/4 c granulated sugar (also try substituting honey)
1/2 c ground flaxseed
1/4 c packed brown sugar
1 t baking powder
1 t ground cinnamon
3/4 t salt
1/4 t baking soda
1/4 t ground nutmeg
2 c shredded zucchini (I used about 2 1/2)
1 c plain yogurt (I've used plain and vanilla. I thought vanilla was pretty tasty)
2 eggs
3 t canola oil (I use less and it turns out just fine)
1 t vanilla extract
1/4 c chopped pecans, toasted (I use more because pecans are delicious)
3 t whole pecans, toasted (Again, I use more)
1 t raw or sanding sugar (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine flour, granulated sugar, and next 7 ingredients (through nutmeg) in a large bowl, stirring well with a whisk.

Spread zucchini onto several layers of heavy-duty paper towels; cover with additional paper towels. Press down firmly to remove excess liquid.

Combine yogurt, eggs, oil, and vanilla in a medium bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Stir in zucchini.

Add zucchini mixture and 1/4 cup pecans to flour mixture, stirring until well combined. Pour batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle batter with 3 tablespoons whole pecans and 1 tablespoon raw sugar (optional).

Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack. Remove bread from pan; place on wire rack.

Share for the ultimate zucchini bread experience.

Champion

I married a champion of a man. You heard me. A champion.

I asked him for a favor today. I had a test review until 6:30 so I called to see if he could chop up the veggies and chicken for fajitas. I'd make the seasoning and throw it all together in a snap when I got home. But that would save me some time.

I texted him at 6:29, "I'm going to be late. . . want to google something or make up your own spices? we're only on essay 3 of 5. . ."

At 6:30 I get a response, "It's already made."

That's just the kind of champ I married.

So I get home and I tell him how good it smells, how proud I am of him, how happy it made me to come home to the table all set and everything beautifully in its place, and then I ask him what he used to season the fajitas. He said he'd tell me after I finished my first one.

It was delicious. But I still had to pry it out of him: come one, WHAT DID YOU USE?

Why so sheepish? Because he used popcorn butter flavoring. THE POWDER KIND that they put on movie theater popcorn. Hilarious. He said it tasted like the cinema. I honestly couldn't taste a thing other than fajita.

So, courtesy of Mikey, here's the recipe:

Fajitas (to impress your wife with)

1 large yellow bell pepper
1 onion
2 chicken breasts
leftover salsa juice
vegetable oil
couple shakes of pepper
liberal amounts of popcorn flavoring

Saute veggies and chicken in oil and "spices" until meat is cooked thoroughly

Also, we donated blood today and my O- husband pumped his out in 5 and 14 seconds. Record time. (I finished up in a lousy 10 minutes and still passed out).

Dinner

Mikey and I made a real dinner tonight. Like meat, veggies, sides, salad, everything. You'd think that after nearly five months of being married we would have done this by now, but between our set-up in DC, traveling all of August, and family engagements back at home, I've hardly cooked a meal since April!

Here's a link to the corn recipe we used. Mikey loves Cholula, and I love Jackson Polluck, so it worked out pretty well.



Just a side note: We do know how to set a table and that forks go on the left, but our camera is on vacation and Photobooth reverses the picture.

Raisins

It seems that the partially dried grape (aka the raisin) has crept into frequent conversations as of late. On several occasions he and I have discussed them, and the conversation inevitabley turns to a remark directed at me that goes something like, "Who doesn't like raisins?!" which I would reply, "Who does?"

I know OlderAndWiserToo had to defend her dislike on one occasion and it turns out that Perkretary at the front desk destests the little buggers too. So I'm not alone. I think raisins ruin cookies, cakes, sweets, what have you. I think that if you're going to have "ants on a log" you might as well leave the ants where they belong. Outside. In the dirt. I've heard raisins described as "little pockets of jam." Which is disgusting. Because I never want jam in my little pockets.

Pizza

Perhaps it is because I was deprived a kitchen for 2 months in London, or possibly I'm just finally accepting my sphere of domesticity, but I have spent quite a bit of time in the kitchen the past few days. Yesterday I made the dough for today's pizza crust. This morning I made the marinara sauce. And after work I set my hands to the stone kneading and rolling dough, and chopping and sautéing veggies for the toppings. I revamped and put together several recipes, sort of making up my own version of a conglomeration of good eats. Here's what I came up with. Mom told me it was beginner's luck. I think I'm a prodegy and am going to assume the name Wolfgang Puck.


I'm not quite sure how to quantify the recipes, but here are some educated guesses.

Crust
3 1/2 cups flour
1 cup warm water
2 tablespoons yeast
2 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt

Knead. Raise 45 minutes. Punch it down. Raise another hour or so. Refrigerate for later use or roll out. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes or so (already sauced, cheesed and topped) on a baking stone or heavy duty cookie sheet lightly oiled and dusted with corn meal.

Sauce
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
6 fluid ounces warm water (just fill up the empty can of tomato paste)
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons honey
3/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Mix in a small bowl. It's pretty tricky.

Pizza
Ricotta Cheese
Mozzerella Cheese
Red Onions
Zucchini
Yellow Squash
Artichoke Hearts
Mushrooms
Orange and Yellow Bell Peppers
Tomatos
Sprinkle with Feta and Parmesan

Sauté veggies with some olive oil and a bit of basil, oregano and rosemary. Not too long, remember they're going to bake in the oven as well. Spread the sauce over the crust. Smear Ricotta and Mozzerella over the sauce, veggies over the cheese, Feta and Parmesan over the veggies. Bake for about 20 minutes at 400 or until the crust is golden brown.

Yummus

We tried a recipe (via this guy) which we give two thumbs up. Chickpeas have never tasted so good.

hummus
2 cans of white beans or chick peas (partially drained)
2 T olive oil
1 T lemon juice
1 t ground coriander
1/2 t cumin
Salt & Pepper
2 cloves garlic, crushed
Pita bread, cut into triangles, brushed with olive oil, toasted

Put it all in a blender, plug it in, turn it on. Listen to the sound of hummus being born. Serve with pita triangles, brushed with olive oil, toasted in the oven.