Forest Farro

Farro is on the rise.  Or rather, it has been on the rise for some time now.  This noble little grain is said to have sustained the ancient Romans.  It also happens to be incredibly delicious and easy to make.  This little grain has many attractive qualities for me.  I was in Rome just over a month ago, and I had the most wonderful time.  I realized that I would really like to live in Rome at some point in my life.  Why not dream big?  It's a magical city, and I'm happy to bring a bit of my love for Italian food and fascination with Rome together in forest farro.

The castel sant'angelo and me-last month in Rome.

The fontana di Trevi

The birthday girl and me last month at the Trevi fountain

As it turns out, farro is quite good for you-this little toothsome whole grain has lots of fiber, which helps it break down slowly in your body (unlike pasta or white rice,) has lots of magnesium, vitamins e and b.  The reason I'm cooking it, though, is that it's delicious.  It can be a lively, fun, very delightfully al dente alternative to pasta or rice/risotto.  Like rice (and unlike risotto) you do not have to carry on stirring the whole time. I will be cooking mine in mushroom broth, which is a wonderful alternative to chicken or veggie broth.

I call this dish "forest farro" because it's dark and earthy looking, and the mushrooms are rich and flavorful.  There is a bit of woodsy rosemary, and a the very green leeks provide a sweet oniony taste. A bit of parsley gets strewn on at the end.

I was teeny bit extravagant and purchased some truffle oil to drizze on the farro at the end-this makes the farro perfumed with the scent of mushroom (amplified by mushroom broth and a melange of mushrooms.)  I think this adds a real "woodsiness."  You may think this is mushroom overkill, but I really love it-you can always taste it first and then decide if you're going to use the truffle oil.

Ingredients

Olive oil (extra virgin or plain)

Cloves of garlic (to taste)

1 pat of butter

2 Leeks (you can buy these pre-washed and trimmed at Trader Joe's, but most supermarkets these days carry leeks....hurray!)

1 package of farro (they come in packages of about 496 grams/17.6 ounces or so)

Sherry wine (about 1/2 cup, divided)

1 box (liter/33 fl oz) of Mushroom broth

24 ounces-2 lbs of mushrooms (to taste) I like to buy mixed varieties.

Rosemary (Tablespoon of fresh)

Parsley (I use fresh italian parsley)

Salt

Pepper

(Optional) Truffle oil

Method:

1. Place a medium to large pan on the stove (I use my biggest sautee pan) add 1 tablespoon of olive oil.

2. Chop the two leeks and the garlic.  Add 1 3/4 of the leeks, the rosemary, parsley and some garlic to the large pan and cook until tender.

3. Add all the farro and coat each pearled grain.  If you think you might need a tad more oil, be my guest.

Stirring the farro

4. Add the sherry to the pan (in all honesty, I don't actually measure this-I just glug some out of the bottle.)  Allow the sherry to reduce bit-it good to stir it around.

5. Add the mushroom broth, give a stir, then you can leave it for about 25 minutes until the farro absorbs the liquid.  You don't need to stir constantly, but I'd check in every 10 minutes or so.

6. Add the other 1/4 leek and the rest of your garlic to another sautee pan with 1 tablespoon olive oil and the pat of butter.   Cook the leeks and garlic.

7.  Add the mushrooms, along with some salt.  They will greedily drink all the fat and the pan will look dry in about two minutes.  In another two minutes, they will then release their juices, and look luscious (I read that in Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Child, Beck and Bertholle, and have found it to be true.)  Toward the end, add the other glug of sherry to the mushrooms-it will bubble up a bit, but will then calm down.  Once it has reduced, turn the pan off.

8. When the mushroom broth has been reduced, add the mushroom mixture and stir.  Taste for seasoning-it may need some salt or pepper.

9. Transfer the farro to your serving dish.

10. (Optional) drizzle a bit of truffle oil on the farro, toss it, and enjoy the scent as truffle oil permeates your kitchen.  Ahhh....

11. Garnish with some leftover chopped parsley.

Serving the farro

12. Eat greedily.