Farro with Mushrooms and Bacon
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Servings
4 generous servings
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Course
Others
Farro with Mushrooms and Bacon
This is a great, hearty winter dish. It was inspired by Farro with Mushrooms from Martha Rose Shulman in The New York Times. I made several changes, including adding bacon and adjusting the quantities to my liking.
It can be made in advance and rewarmed on the stovetop. Vegetarians can omit the bacon and substitute vegetable stock for the chicken stock. The dried porcini mushroom liquid provides lots of flavor, so try to track some down. (Specialty shops often carry them, although Asian stores usually carry other varieties of dried mushrooms, which can be used.)
If you suspect your dried mushrooms may have some grit, after you've soaked them and squeezed them out, you could swish them in a small bowl of water to remove any grit. The liquid could be passed through cheesecloth, to trap any debris.
I used thick-cut unsmoked bacon. (Pancetta works well, too.) If using smoked bacon, try to find one that's not too smoky; you don't want to overwhelm the nutty flavor of the farro. Good-quality bacon can be found in natural foods stores, farmers markets, and at butcher shops.
Farro can be found in Italian specialty stores and online. It's sometimes available "pearled," but I used whole grain farro for this recipe. (Rustichella brand.) If you use pearled, note that it cooks faster so you'll need to keep an eye on it, and adjust the cooking time. Follow the instructions on the package for using it.
Ingredients
- 1/2 ounce (15g) dried porcini mushrooms
- 1 1/2 cups (355ml) water
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup (135g) diced thick-cut bacon or pancetta
- 1 small onion peeled and diced
- 2 cloves garlic peeled and minced
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
- 12 ounces (340g) brown mushrooms trimmed, cleaned and quartered (about 4 cups)
- Salt and freshly-ground black pepper
- 1 1/4 cups (215g) farro
- 3/4 cup (180ml) dry white wine
- 2 1/2 cups (590ml) chicken stock preferably homemade (or low-sodium)
- 1 cup (90g) grated parmesan
- 1/2 cup (40g) chopped flat-leaf parsley
Instructions
- Bring 1 1/2 cups of water to a boil in a small saucepan. Remove from heat, add the dried mushrooms, and let stand 15 to 30 minutes. Drain the mushrooms, reserving the liquid, then squeeze the mushrooms to extract as much liquid as possible. Chop the dried mushrooms into small pieces and set aside.(If you get the sense that the mushrooms had grit in them, you can pass the liquid through a very fine-mesh strainer, and swish the mushrooms after they've been soaked in a few changes of water until they're free of dirt, before chopping.)
- Heat the olive oil in a soup pot or medium-sized Dutch oven, over moderate heat. Add the diced bacon and cook a few minutes, stirring, until it's cooked through. Add the onions, garlic and rosemary, and cook 2 to 3 more minutes, until the onions are soft and wilted.
- Add the mushrooms and season lightly with salt and freshly ground black pepper. (The bacon and stock have salt, so you can add more later, if needed.) Cook the mushrooms until they're soft and cooked through. Stir in the farro and cook for another minute or two, stirring frequently. Add the wine and continue to cook until the wine is almost completely absorbed.
- Pour in the chicken stock, the mushroom liquid and stir in the chopped dried mushrooms. Increase the heat until the liquid begins to boil, then reduce the heat to a low simmer and cover. Cook until the farro grains are tender and almost all the liquid is absorbed, about 50 minutes to 1 hour, stirring every so often.
- Turn off the heat and stir in the Parmesan and parsley. Taste, and season with additional salt and pepper, if desired.
Notes
- Serving: Serve warm with more freshly grated Parmesan cheese grated over the top.
- Storage: The farro can be made up to three days ahead, and rewarmed on the stovetop. It'll get thicker as it sits so you may need to add additional stock or water when you rewarm it.
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