Sabra Hummus-Stuffed Artichoke Towers

As a Featured Publisher on Foodbuzz, I get the opportunity to tastetest certain products, participate in food preparation competitions, and the like, through the Tastemaker program.  It is so fun! This time, I was chosen to create an original appetizer recipe using the Sabra-brand hummus that would be suitable for a cocktail party.

The biggest decision for me was which of the many flavors of hummus I would choose for my recipe!  Sabra makes 14 different flavors of hummus! From Supremely Spicy to Spinach and Artichoke, their flavors go from classic to incredibly unique.  Not being familiar with some of the more creative flavors, I decided to stick with a classic flavor -- Roasted Red Pepper.  Yum!

So, in the spirit of finger food, I decided to make artichoke mushroom pepper towers stuffed with roasted red pepper hummus and olive cashew cream.  I'll call this "Hummus-Stuffed Artichoke Towers."

I decided to stuff and tower three vegetables: artichoke bottoms, cremini mushrooms, and sweet peppers.

Ingredients for Hummus-Stuffed Artichoke Towers
Makes 5 towers

• 2 cups raw cashews 
• 1 can artichoke bottoms (contains 5) *not artichoke hearts!
• 5 cremini mushrooms (baby bellas)
• 5 sweet tri-colored peppers 
• 1 can black olives

I started off by placing the raw cashews in a bowl, covering them with water, then covering the bowl with plastic wrap. I placed the bowl in the refrigerator to let it soak overnight. This softens the cashews and makes them easier to digest once pureed.

The next day, I took the cashews out of the refrigerator, drained the water and put them into a food processor. Then, I added water to cover them by 1/2 inch and pureed them in a food processor two minutes or until the cashew mixture was creamy and thickened.

Then, I added a bit of olive juice from the can of olives to give it an olive taste.

Next, I took the artichoke bottoms, filled them with the Sabra Roasted Red Pepper hummus and a little bit of the red peppers that are on top of the Sabra hummus and placed them on the serving dish.

 
Then, I de-stemmed the mushrooms and filled them with cashew cheese and placed them upside down on top of the hummus-filled artichoke bottoms.

Lastly, I cut the tops off the sweet peppers and filled them with a bit of hummus, turned them over and topped the mushrooms. Alternatively, I also filled a few of the olives with hummus and placed them on top of the mushrooms.

And, just like that, I had an amazing appetizer!  The artichokes and hummus were a natural combination, the mushrooms and olive cashew cheese really complemented the artichokes and the pepper or olive stuffed with hummus on top helped tie it all together!  I only hope my recipe wins so I can head to San Francisco for the Foodbuzz Festival this fall and see my appetizer served to the masses! Yay Sabra!

Disclosure: As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program, I received a container of Sabra hummus.