Farro and Butternut Squash Stew

I have long wanted to try farro since I love whole grains. After seeing this recipe in The Southern Italian Farmer's Table, I decided to give it a try. My local farmer's market has a vendor who sells a variety of whole grains.  I bought some farro and made this dish, which we have been enjoying for the last few days.  My version has more veggies, is less tomatoey and chunkier than the original.

1 cup farro
Kosher salt
2 tbl. extra virgin olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
1 large carrot, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 medium butternut squash, peels, seeded and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
4 plum tomatoes, finely chopped
1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley
4 cups vegetable broth
1 tsp. chopped rosemary
1 15 oz. can chickpeas or cannellini beans, drained
Salt and pepper to taste
Grated Parmigiano Reggiano, for serving

Soak the farro in cold water for 30 minutes. Drain the farro, rinse and then drain again.  Put the farro into a large pot, add 8 cups water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add 1/2 tbl. salt, reduce heat to maintain simmer, and cook until the farro is tender (about 20 minutes). Drain the farro and set aside.

Heat the oil in the same pot over medium heat.  Add the onion, carrot, celery, butternut squash and a pinch of salt.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until the veggies begin to soften, 5-7 minutes.  Add the parsley, vegetable broth and rosemary.  Continue cooking until the vegetables are very tender, about 15 minutes more.  Add the farro to the vegetables along with the chickpeas and cook for about 10 minutes more, until all the ingredients have melded.  Season with salt and pepper.

Serve with grated cheese, if desired.

Serves 6

Notes: Leftover stew tastes even better the next few days. The original recipe calls for 1 28-oz. can crushed tomatoes but I thought that would be too tomatoey. I substituted the plum tomatoes and vegetable broth for the canned tomatoes.

If you want to fool around with the spices you can transform the dish into a Middle Eastern or Indian stew. Try cumin, curry powder or whatever other spices you fancy.

Chickpeas and Chard

I had a big bunch of chard in the fridge that was rapidly aging and giving me guilt whenever I opened the refrigerator door. What to do with it? Why did I buy it?

When I couldn't take it any longer I found this recipe in Vegetarian Suppers from Deborah Madison's Kitchen. I slightly simplified the recipe and loved the result.

1 tbl. olive oil

1 large onion, finely diced

pinch or 2 of saffron

2 garlic cloves

salt and pepper

1 cup cilantro leaves

1/4 cup parsley leaves

1/2 tsp. ground cumin or more to taste

2 tsp. tomato paste

14 chard leaves (or whatever you have) with stems

2 15 0z. cans chickpeas, preferably organic, with liquid, or 3 cups home-cooked

1. Heat the oil in a wide skillet. Add the onion and saffron. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 12-15 mins. Meanwhile, pound the garlic with 1/2 tsp. salt, cilantro, parsley and cumin to make a rtough paste. When the onions are golden and soft, add the paste to the pan along with the tomato paste and work all into the onions.

2. Slice the chard leaves off their stems. Put them in a wide pot with 2 cups of water and cook, covered, until wilted and tender, about 5 minutes. Set leaves aside in a colander, reserving the cooking water.

3. Trim the chard stems, cut into fine dice and drop them into reserved chard water. Simmer until tender, about 10 minutes, then turn off heat.

4. Add the chickpeas to the onion with their liquid or 1 cup water or stock. Coarsely chop the chard and add it. Simmer for 10 minutes, then add the stems. Taste for salt and pepper.

Serves 4

Notes: I served this dish with brown basmati rice and a salad. Saffron wasn't available so I skipped it. I highly recommend Eden brand organic beans. I couldn't get the hang of turning the garlic, etc. into a paste so just cut everything up very finely.

The leftovers had a second life. The next day the rice, veggies and beans were turned into soup with the reserved cooking liquid and additional veggie broth.