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10/18/1999 Archived Entry: "Farro Salad (Try it, you'll like it)"

This salad recipe has been hanging around my files since mid summer -- too long. It’s time to share it.

It’s a recipe for a farro salad that chef Anna Klinger is making at the charming Italian restaurant she owns with her husband, who ably serves in the dining room. The restaurant is called Al di Là, at 248 Carroll St., in Brooklyn (718-783-4565).

You may well ask, “What’s farro?” And it wouldn’t help if I said it’s the same as spelt, or no more than a chromosome or two away from being the same as spelt.

Both farro and spelt, even if they aren’t exactly the same (depends on who you ask), are primitive, low-gluten (that means low-protein) forms of wheat. In essence, it’s a kind of whole wheat berry. In the U.S., it is also ground into flour for low-gluten breads and pasta. These are geared to people with wheat and gluten intolerance and allergies.

The word farro is Italian, and around Lucca, in Tuscany, they make soups and other dishes using the whole grain. I am most familiar with the soups, two of which I included in Soup Suppers, my book on hearty, main-course soups. The most famous farro soup combines the grain with beans, fresh and cured pork, rosemary, sage, garlic and potatoes. It’s called Gran Farro for reasons that should be obvious. My version is an adaptation from Vipore, a well-known restaurant in Pieve Santo Stefano. The other recipe is much ligher, a broth with farro, tomatoes, onions, garlic, rosemary and fennel seed; a recipe I got from Lorenza di Medici, the cookbook writer, cooking teacher, and matriarch of the Stucchi-Prenetti family, proprietors of Badia a Coltibuono in Chianti.

I’ve been meaning to ask Anna Klinger if she created this salad or if it was something she ate in Italy. I keep forgetting because I like it no matter. It tastes and looks Italian, even if it was dreamed up in Brooklyn.

Al di Là’s Farro Salad
Makes about 5 cups, serving about 6 as an appetizer

1/2 pound farro (also known as spelt) (about 1 1/4 cups)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 seedless cucumber, finely diced (about 1 cup)
1/2 medium red onion, finely diced (about 1/2 cup)
1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, the smaller the better, cut in halves or quarters, depending on size
1 loosely packed cup torn fresh basil leaves
3 to 4 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (condiment quality oil, if possible)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper to taste

Rinse the farro and soak in plenty of water overnight.

Fill a 2 1/2 quart pot with water, bring to a boil. Add the farro and 1 teaspoon salt. Boil, partially covered, for 30 minutes, or until tender, then turn off the flame. Let the farro sit at least another 20 minutes so the grain absorbs the water slowly and swells. Drain and cool.

In a large mixing bowl, toss the vegetables and the basil with the cooked farro. Add 3 tablespoons of the lemon juice, the olive oil, the salt, and the freshly ground black pepper. Toss well again.

Let the salad sit for an hour or so before serving, then taste again and adjust seasoning with more lemon juice, salt and pepper.

Serve cool but not cold. It can be refrigerated for several hours. (Unfortunately, the salad is not as good when made more than several hours ahead. I’ve tried, I know.)