Tuesday, September 13th, 2011

Falling For Farro

I’ve gone on and on before about my love of the ancient Italian super-healthy grain FARRO, but it was always with some reservation because it wasn’t the easiest ingredient to find. Typically the only places where I could replenish my stash was the pricey Italian butcher or Whole Foods. But oh-happy-day I just discovered it at my local supermarket–the stuff is going mainstream (and if you don’t have it at your market you should ask the manager!).

Not only am I a booster for farro because it’s so good for you, so versatile, so yummy, it’s also incredibly simple to make: 1 cup added to 3 cups of salted water, bring to a boil, stir, lower to a simmer, cook for about 10 minutes until tender but not mushy (you still want it to have some bite), and then drain. From there you can mix it with raw or cooked vegetables add it to broth for soup, or chill and pack it for lunch.

In the summer I was preparing it like a warm salad, tossed with lemon juice, fleur de sel, olive oil, salt and pepper, and then chopped tomatoes and herbs, plus some pecorino or feta.

But now that fall is lingering around the corner (we have leaves on the ground already, do you?) I am transitioning to a more autumnal version. Above is my farro with chopped dried apricots (about 12 plump ones for 1 cup of farro),