Ina Garten Proves She's Still the Quarantine Queen with Her "Ultimate Pantry Recipe"

Craving a way to mix up a ho-hum weeknight? Ina Garten, our dream quarantine buddy, recently took to Instagram to reveal the "perfect cocktail food," which we can only imagine she enjoyed alongside a supersized martini. (We'll have what she's having, please.)

According to Ina, her Creamy Hummus "takes a little more time than regular hummus but it's so worth it! It's light, silky smooth and topped with chickpeas, almonds and smoky paprika."

Fear not, if you're leery of dried legumes. Ina is not asking you to dig out that lasts-a-lifetime bag of dried garbanzos. Instead, she just suggests boiling a couple cans of chickpeas in baking soda-spiked water to make it easy to remove their skins before processing into a lusciously smooth dip. Yes, we know peeling skin off bean after bean sounds a bit fussy, but if there has ever been a time to try a "project recipe," this is it. And after being inspired to give Ina's Creamy Hummus recipe a try ourselves, we can confirm that it's less tedious than it is therapeutic. You get into a flow of chickpea-peeling after a few minutes.

She has a few other secrets up her chambray sleeve: A strong amount of garlic (twice as much as we usually toss into our Garlic Hummus), plus a pinch of smoked paprika and dash of Tabasco. Then it's time to combine all of the ingredients in a food processor and plate. In true cookbook author fashion, Ina's garnish game is strong too. "Good olive oil," a handful of reserved whole chickpeas and a shower of salty roasted Marcona almonds round out the pantry recipe.

From there, all that's left to do is round up some crudités and grab your cocktail, then head over to @InaGarten's Instagram to await the next virtual cooking club adventure. As Ina would say, "How easy is that?"