One Pot Farro Primavera

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5 from 4 votes

Servings: as a main, 6 as a side dish

Author: Pamela

Ingredients

1 cup farro use brown rice for gluten-free
2 cups water mild vegetable or chicken stock
1 small onion or leek quartered and thinly sliced
3 large garlic cloves thinly sliced
Pinch of crushed red pepper
1 ½ teaspoons sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 Tablespoons unrefined cold-pressed extra-virgin olive oil
2 cups chopped tomatoes or halved cherry tomatoes
2 cups of any of the following:
These would go in during Step 1: Sliced carrots sliced mushrooms.
Or these quicker-cooking vegetables would go in 10 minutes before the farro finishes cooking: chopped asparagus diced zucchini, frozen peas, fresh spinach
For garnish:
A small handful of fresh basil leaves
Freshly grated Parmesan or Pecorino cheese if desired

Instructions

Place all the ingredients into a medium saucepan or soup pot in the order listed, with the farro first and so on, except do not add quicker cooking vegetables, such as asparagus, peas or spinach, if using. Do not add the basil or cheese yet either. Bring to a boil over high heat, lower to a simmer and keep partially covered.
You will cook the farro for a total of 30 minutes. If using any quicker-cooking vegetables, add those in after the farro has cooked 20 minutes. Stir them in, and allow the farro to cook an additional 10 minutes, partially covered.
Taste the farro for doneness. There will be a little liquid in the pot which I like. If you don't, cook towards the end without the lid. Serve with fresh basil leaves and grated cheese, if desired.

Notes

You can also supplement this with cauliflower rice or cut the farro and water in half and add a 12-ounce bag of frozen cauliflower rice.
I prefer using pearled farro for this recipe, such as Bob's Red Mill. Whole farro, such as the Melissa's brand will take longer to cook, 45 minutes to an hour.