Warm Farro Salad
Preparation Time: about 30 minutes; most of this is cooking time
Serves: 2 people. Easily scaled upward.
Please see notes, below, before beginning to cook.
2-4 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium carrot, peeled or scrubbed and cut into dice
1 small onion, shallot, or 2 green onions, peeled and diced
1-2 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
scant 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano (or fresh if you have it)
scant 1/4 teaspoon fennel seed
scant 1/4 teaspoon fresh thyme
fresh parsley, including stems (optional)
a few peppercorns
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup/4 ounces/100 grams pearled farro
12 ounces/400ml unsalted chicken stock, vegetable stock, or water; you need enough liquid to cover the farro by about 1.5 inches/4cm. You may need more during cooking depending on how absorbent your farro is.
salt and pepper to taste
You need a 2-3 quart/liter pot to make Warm Farro Salad.
Heat the olive oil over low heat.
Add the carrot, whatever allium you’re using, and the garlic. Cook gently, stirring occasionally, until the onions become translucent. Don’t let them brown. There should be enough olive oil to moisten the vegetables generously.
Once the onions are translucent, add the seasonings and the farro. Stir with a wooden spoon, coating farro and vegetables with olive oil. Cook gently for a moment, as if making risotto. Don’t let anything brown.
Pour in the broth or water. It should come about 1.5 inches/4cm above the farro’s surface.
Bring the liquid to a boil, then turn it down to simmer. Don’t stir too often, or the grains will burst, creating mush. You want the farro intact.
Cook farro 15-25 minutes, until grain is done: it should be easy to chew but retain bite at the core.
Taste for salt and pepper. It will probably need salt.
Additional fresh parsley makes a nice addition, if you have it.
Serve warm farro salad as a side or main dish with a green salad and cheese.
Warm Farro Salad will keep, refrigerated in a covered container, up to four days. Freezing isn’t recommended.
Notes:
Pearling is a polishing process that removes bran from grain, allowing it to cook faster. I’ve never seen farro that wasn’t pearled, but if yours is intact, it will take longer to cook.
The seasonings given here are suggestions. Feel free to alter them to your taste.
Your farro may need more liquid, depending on how old it is and the kind of pot you’re using. The farro might also finish cooking before all the liquid is absorbed, leaving a small amount in the pot. If this happens, you have a few options. The first is to leave it. The second is to remove the farro to a dish, then turn up the heat and boil the remaining liquid off. The third is to pour off the liquid and use it elsewhere.
Farro may also be prepared like risotto: saute minced onion, garlic, and perhaps some carrot in olive oil and butter. Add the farro, stirring to coat the grains with fat. Add a little white wine to the pan, then some warmed broth. Farro prepared in this manner isn’t as demanding as risotto: you don’t have to stir constantly. Instead, you can stir frequently, adding broth as the grain absorbs it.
Farro also features in numerous Mediterranean soup recipes, often showing up with white beans and greens.