Farro With Mushrooms Butternut Squash And Toasted Pecans Food

BUTTERNUT SQUASH AND FARRO SALAD

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Drizzle the squash with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Spread into an even layer on a baking sheet and roast until light golden brown and cooked through, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, rinse the farro and place in a medium saucepot. Add 2 cups water, the cider, bay leaves and a pinch of salt and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until tender, 15 to 30 minutes. Drain and cool.
• Whisk together the oil, vinegar, Dijon, honey and orange zest and juice in a large bowl, then season with salt and pepper. Add the farro, roasted squash, arugula, parsley, pistachios and Parmesan and toss until everything is well incorporated. Once everything is combined, taste for seasoning, adding additional salt and pepper if needed. Serve at room temperature.

BAKED FARRO AND BUTTERNUT SQUASH

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Place the bacon on a baking rack set on a sheet pan and bake it for 20 to 30 minutes, until browned (it won't be crisp). Cut the bacon in very large dice.
• Meanwhile, in a small (9-inch) Dutch oven, such as Le Creuset, heat the olive oil and butter over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, until tender and starting to brown. Add the thyme, 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper and cook for 1 minute. Add the farro and chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Place the squash on top of the farro mixture, cover, and bake in the same oven with the bacon for 30 minutes, until the squash and farro are tender. Check once during cooking and add a little chicken stock if it's dry.
• Sprinkle the bacon and parmesan on the squash and farro and bake uncovered for 15 to 20 minutes, until most of the liquid evaporates, the farro and butternut squash are tender, and the cheese has melted. Serve hot directly from the pot.

BAKED FARRO AND BUTTERNUT SQUASH

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Place the bacon on a baking rack set on a sheet pan and bake it for 20 to 30 minutes, until browned (it won't be crisp). Cut the bacon in very large dice.
• Meanwhile, in a small (9-inch) Dutch oven, such as Le Creuset, heat the olive oil and butter over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, until tender and starting to brown. Add the thyme, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper and cook for one minute. Add the farro and chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Place the squash on top of the farro mixture, cover, and bake in the same oven with the bacon for 30 minutes, until the squash and farro are tender. Check once during cooking and add a little chicken stock if it's dry.
• Sprinkle the bacon and Parmesan on the squash and farro and bake uncovered for 15 to 20 minutes, until most of the liquid evaporates, the farro and butternut squash are tender, and the cheese has melted. Serve hot directly from the pot.

FARRO WITH MUSHROOMS

Steps:

• Place the farro in a bowl, and pour on enough hot water to cover by an inch. Let soak while you prepare the remaining ingredients. Drain.
• Place the dried mushrooms in a large Pyrex measuring cup or bowl, and pour in 2 cups boiling water. Let sit 30 minutes.
• Drain the mushrooms through a strainer set over a bowl and lined with cheesecloth or a paper towel. Squeeze the mushrooms over the strainer, then rinse in several changes of water to remove grit. Chop coarsely if the pieces are large and set aside. Add the broth from the mushrooms to the stock. You should have 6 cups (add water if necessary). Place in a saucepan, and bring to a simmer. Season with salt to taste.
• Heat the oil over medium heat in a large, heavy nonstick skillet. Add the onion. Cook, stirring, until it begins to soften, about three minutes. Add the fresh mushrooms. Cook, stirring, until they begin to soften and sweat. Add salt to taste, the garlic and rosemary. Continue to cook, stirring often, until the mushrooms are tender, about five minutes. Add the farro and reconstituted dried mushrooms. Cook, stirring, until the grains of farro are separate and beginning to crackle, about two minutes. Stir in the wine and cook, stirring until the wine has been absorbed. Add all but about 1 cup of the stock, and bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer 50 minutes or until the farro is tender; some of the grains will be beginning to splay. Remove the lid, and stir vigorously from time to time. Taste and adjust seasoning. There should be some liquid remaining in the pot but not too much. If the farro is submerged in stock, raise the heat and cook until there is just enough to moisten the grains, like a sauce. If there is not, stir in the remaining stock. If not serving right away, cover and let stand. Just before serving, bring back to a simmer, add the Parmesan, parsley and pepper, and stir together. Remove from the heat and serve.

FARRO WITH WILD MUSHROOMS

Steps:

• Place porcini mushrooms in a bowl and cover with warm water; soak until mushrooms are reconstituted, 20 to 30 minutes. Drain and chop mushrooms.
• Heat olive oil in a pot over medium-high heat. Saute brown mushrooms with a pinch of salt in hot oil until slightly golden and moisture cooks off, 5 to 10 minutes. Add chopped porcini mushrooms, reduce heat to medium, and cook and stir until hot, 2 to 4 minutes.
• Stir onion into mushrooms; cook and stir until translucent and golden, 5 to 7 minutes. Add garlic; cook and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute.
• Pour farro into mushroom mixture; stir until farro is coated in olive oil. Increase heat to high and add 1 cup chicken broth with a pinch of salt to mushroom mixture; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover the pot with a lid, and simmer, stirring once, until liquid is absorbed, about 10 minutes.
• Increase heat to high and stir remaining chicken broth into farro mixture; bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, cover the pot with a lid, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until farro is starting to get tender, about 15 minutes. Remove the lid from the pot and continue simmering uncovered until farro reaches desired tenderness, about 15 minutes more.
• Reduce heat to low; stir creme fraiche and parsley into farro mixture. Season with salt and black pepper. Stir Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese into farro and ladle into bowls.

FARRO WITH ROASTED SQUASH, FETA AND MINT

Steps:

• Heat oven to 450 degrees. Prepare the squash: In a large bowl, mix together olive oil, sugar, cinnamon, salt, pepper and cayenne. Add squash and toss well to coat with the spiced oil. Lay the squash pieces out flat on one or two rimmed baking sheets.
• Roast squash until the bottoms are golden, 10 to 15 minutes. Carefully turn the pieces over and continue to roast until tender, another 10 to 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, make the farro: In a medium pot, bring the apple cider, 2 cups water and the salt to a simmer. Add farro and simmer until water is absorbed and the farro is tender, 20 to 30 minutes. If the liquid evaporates before the farro is done, add a little more water. Or, if there's still liquid in the pot when the farro is done, drain it.
• In a large bowl, whisk together vinegar, garlic and pepper. Whisk in olive oil. Add farro and toss well, adding more oil or salt, or both, if needed.
• To serve, spoon the farro on a platter and top with the squash, feta, mint or arugula, or both, and a drizzle of olive oil.