FARRO IS AN ancient form of hulled wheat that’s low-yielding and similar to barley or wheat-berries in texture. Despite being in vogue of late, farro is actually among the oldest of agricultural products. It was first domesticated nearly 10,000 years ago in the Near East, most likely in present-day Turkey. Today it is eaten more in Itlay than anywhere else.
This is a good way to show off this ancient grain. The farro is combined with sauteed wild mushrooms—chanterelles here—and a healthy dollop of mascarpone to give it a creamy unctuousness. It takes a while to cook but it’s forgiving. Add more water and cooking time if you prefer a softer, more yielding bite. You can also soak the grain overnight.
1 cup farro
3 cups warm water
1-2 oz dried porcini, pulverized (optional)
4 oz mascarpone
1/2 lb chanterelles, chopped
2 tbsp butter
1 clove garlic, minced
salt & pepper
1. Reconstitute the porcini in 3 cups of warm water. Set aside for 10 minutes.
2. Pour porcini water in pot, salt the water, and bring to boil. Add farro, lower heat to simmer and cook until water is gone, about 40 minutes. Farro should be al dente yet tender. You can add more or less water and cook until desired softness. There’s a lot of leeway and personal preference with farro.
3. Saute chanterelles for several minutes in butter in a large skillet, or in batches. Avoid slimy chanterelles by not crowding. You want the mushrooms to be lightly browned and firm.
4. Stir mascarpone into farro, then stir in most of chanterelles, reserving some as garnish. Season and garnish with chopped chives or parsley.
We served the farro with sauteed kale from the garden and sliced Steak au Poivre. The steak was organic and grass-fed, with a single 8-ounce New York strip plenty enough to feed two of us along with the other sides. A bottle of cabernet completed the meal.
Sold! This sounds amazing! Thanks for completing the menu, sounds so delicious!
Sounds delish! Where did you get your farro from? I haven’t looked, but I don’t remember seeing it in the bulk section at Madison Market, and they seem to have a fairly good variety of ‘hard to find’ grains.
I have been trying more wild mushrooms thanks to FOTL. Love the book, can’t wait for more.
Kirsten – Checked out your Chimichurri. Good stuff! Can also be made with wild chickweed in place of parsley. Thanks for stopping by.
Ra – The farro is Bluebird. You can find it in bulk at the PCC, at least at the Seward branch.
r. hurd – Thanks! I need to get working on a second helping…
Thanks! See you tomorrow!
This looks delicious! I’m definitely going to have to try this.
Niiice… I make a version of this dish a lot — LOVE farro! — but never thought about using mascarpone. Good idea!
You know I LOVED this recipe 🙂
I had the pleasure of the version of this dish that you brought to the Penny event, and it sure was good. Re farro, it is important to note the difference between semi-pearled and the whole grain. I much prefer the pearled – the whole grain can take *forever* to cook and sometimes never really reach tenderness. Oh, and that reminds me, I’ve put farro with chanterelles before too… lovely combination.