Extra-smooth restaurant-style hummus

Soak dried chickpeas covered in water for about 6 hours until doubled in size. Canned or jarred chickpeas work in a pinch.

Rinse the soaked chickpeas under running water and pick out any bad ones.

Put them in a tall pot, add about 1.5 to 2 litres of water and bring to a boil on high heat.

Skim off the foam that rises.

Stir in about a teaspoon of baking soda per 500 g of chickpeas; it fizzes. Cover, turn to medium heat and cook 1 to 2 hours.

Once soft enough to squash, set a few chickpeas aside for garnish. Do not peel; keep cooking until they break down to a mush, about an hour and a half in total.

Uncover and cook on the same heat about 10 minutes more to evaporate the remaining liquid, leaving a paste.

Spread the paste on a metal tray and refrigerate about half an hour to cool; it can be frozen in blocks at this stage.

Process the chickpeas alone about five minutes to a fine fluffy paste, stopping often to scrape down.

With the machine running, stream in vegetable oil; scrape down.

Add plenty of light-coloured tahini and process.

Add freshly squeezed lemon juice and salt; if the lemons are not acidic, add citric acid rather than more juice.

With the machine running, add ice a few pieces at a time until the texture is right; thin or thicken with more tahini as needed.

Transfer to a container and chill; it firms as it cools.

Stir out the air bubbles, dollop onto a plate and swirl with the back of a spoon while rotating the plate. Finish with olive oil in the middle and the reserved chickpeas.