Farro with Potato and Mushroom

Currently I’m obsessed with two things: chocolate and farro. I don’t know where the sudden chocolate craving’s come from (and I’m not complaining), but as for the latter, I’m having a lot of fun rustling up various dishes with the ancient grain.

My aim with this recipe was to recreate a potato-ey farro stew I ate at this adorable little trattoria in Spoleto. What I like about this recipe I came up with, is that even though it uses about 150g (5oz.) of farro, it serves 4 people. And generously, too.

The potato gives the dish some body, and that’s what helps make this stew a hearty one. Other than that, this recipe is pretty flexible and versatile for you to give it your own twist of flavour. For example, you could use thyme or sage instead of mint, or you could use broccoli instead of the mushrooms.

This is the kind of recipe that cannot be rushed. You need to let it simmer down slowly until the grains of farro have splayed, and the cubes of potatoes have rounded on the edges. The potato that has cooked into the dish gives it that wonderfully thick, soupy texture, and the rounded edges somehow makes the dish look like comfort food.

Potato and Mushroom Farro Stew Recipe

Yield: 4 servings

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time:  45 minutes

Ingredients:

2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
250g / 9oz button mushrooms, sliced
2 large potatoes (about 250g/9oz), peeled and cubed
150g / 5oz farro, soaked overnight
3-4 cups of chicken stock (or water if you don’t have any chicken stock)
a good handful of chopped mint leaves
Salt

Method:

1. In a medium sized pot, heat the olive oil and add the onions. Cook till translucent, and then add the garlic.
2. Add the mushrooms, and sauté until they are golden brown. Next, add the potatoes and the farro and cook for another few minutes before pouring in the chicken stock.
3. Let this simmer for 30-40 minutes until the grains of farro have splayed.
4. The farro should still be liquid-y when you serve it, so add stock accordingly.
5. Finally, stir in the chopped mint.
6. You can make this well ahead of time and then reheat it with more stock (since the grain will absorb all the moisture they can).

I’m down to the last one third of the farro I bought, and I’m looking for a recipe that is knock-your-socks-off good. Do you have a favourite farro recipe, or perhaps one that you can point me to?