In our household, we love food with Middle Eastern influences. We probably eat kafta, falafel, hummus, batata harra, or any other recipe that comes from that side of the world at least once per week.

Thinking about what to prepare from that part of the world, I remembered how a while ago I went to a Lebanese restaurant and tried a warm hummus bowl that was served with some kind of veggie 'meatballs.' I loved that meal so much I wanted to recreate it.

So, I took the idea but used just mushrooms as protein for my vegetarian meatballs. Finally, I added a tahini sauce as a topping, which might I say, makes a wonderful addition. Without further ado, here is what you need to do if you want to make this dish.

• Finely chop the onion and the garlic and cook them at medium heat for 5-8 minutes in a preheated pan coated with olive oil. While this happens, you can concentrate on the mushrooms. Chop them into 1 cm cubes. They will reduce in size, but it is better to have kind of equal pieces.
• Add the chopped mushrooms to the pan, season with salt and pepper, then cook them for 3-4 minutes or until they reduce their size. Stir from time to time.

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• Add the butter and let it cook for another 2-3 minutes. Be sure you don't char them too much. So don't go too far away, as you might need to gently stir.

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• Pour the Worcestershire sauce and the rest of the spices. Stir to combine and remove from heat. Let them cool completely before moving to the next step.
• When the mushroom mixture has cooled, transfer it to a mixing bowl and add the finely chopped parsley, breadcrumbs, eggs, and flour. Mix everything very well, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit in the fridge for about 4 hours. You can even let it sit overnight.

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• 15 minutes before continuing your cooking, preheat the oven at 230 degrees Celsius (450 F).
• Take the mixture out of the fridge and start making small mushroom balls. You should take 1-1.5 tbsp of composition for each ball. Place them on a tray lined with parchment paper.

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• Bake for 10 minutes, then turn them on the other side and bake for another 10 minutes.
• When ready, take them out of the oven and reduce the temperature to 200 degrees Celsius (450 F).

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• In the meantime, make your hummus. In a food processor, add the canned chickpeas with just a tbsp or so of its liquid. Grate a clove of garlic, tahini and add the lemon juice. Pulse the machine to make the paste, gradually adding the olive oil. The exact amount of oil is very hard to define. It really depends on the chickpeas you are using.

I usually add more garlic to my hummus. Still, since the tahini sauce is very garlicky, I really suggest you don't go with more. And this comes from a person who adores garlic.

• When the hummus is all creamy and nice, transfer it in an oven-proof dish or 2 individual ones, depending on your preferences. Cover the hummus with aluminum foil and place the dish/dishes in the oven for 10 minutes. If you have a microwave, you can also use it. You want the hummus to be just slightly warm, not hot.
• Finally, let's make the sauce. Take a bowl and place your tahini in it. Season with salt and grate the garlic in there. Add the lemon juice and stir to combine. Start pouring the cold water one drop at a time, whisking continuously. The mixture will become solid at first but will turn out creamy in the end.
• To serve, plate the hummus in 2 plates (or leave it in the oven dish ones). Top the hummus with the mushroom 'meatballs' and tahini sauce. Eat immediately.

You probably know this, but I will tell you nevertheless since I love this wiki section of each recipe. Hummus is a very popular dip from the Middle Eastern part of the world. Even though this recipe's exact location and origin still are unknown, it is safe to say that the earliest written record of hummus is in a cookbook from Cairo from the 13th century.

You will find hummus in all Middle Eastern countries. Yet, each one has a different way to serve it, and that, in my opinion, is the beauty of getting to know more than one culture.

* For the tahini sauce, use ice-cold water, or it won't work.

** If you want more mushroom recipes, you can check out our Mushroom Wellington.

*** Don't forget to tag us on Instagram when making this dish.