Dominique Rizzo | Bespoke Food Tours
Farro and Vegetable Soup
Easy
Prep 20 min Cook 40 min
This delicious soup of Farro and Vegetables is similar to many traditional Italian vegetable minestroni, but with the addition of farro instead of pasta. Farro is a type of ancient grain used by the Romans, the word Farro refers to several different types of wheat, including spelt and more ancient forms of the grain such as Einkorn and Emmer.
As it is part of the wheat family, it contains the gluten protein, which is found in the grains wheat, barley and rye, and is most definitely not gluten-free. It does however offers a mildly chewy, nutty flavour, similar to barley and the Spelt grain which often makes it very confusing as they are quite similar.
It is best to soak the faro for at least 20 minutes before using to make the cooking time quicker. For a gluten free option you can use buckwheat, millet or quinoa and add them to the soup in the last 20 – 15 minutes.
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 brown onion, peeled and diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 medium carrots, peeled and finely chopped
- 2 sticks of celery, finely diced
- 1 tablespoon chopped rosemary
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 ½ cups faro you can use spelt (soaked in cold water for an hour)
- ½ cup brown lentils (you can use tinned)
- ½ cup chickpeas (soaked overnight in water) or you can use tinned
- 1.5lt vegetable stock
- Salt and pepper
- Handful of parsley
- Parmesan cheese for grating
Recipe Steps
- Drain the farro. Heat the oil in a wide soup pot and add the onion, garlic, carrots, celery, rosemary, and bay leaf. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the onion has softened but not browned, about 5 minutes. Add the drained farro, lentils and chickpeas and the stock. Bring to a boil, then cover the pan and simmer until the faro, lentils and chickpeas are tender, about 40 minutes.
- If using canned chickpeas and lentils, drain the liquid and add them to the soup after 30 minutes.
- Taste and season with salt and pepper. Ladle the soup into bowls, drizzle over some olive oil, add the chopped, and grate in a little cheese.
*You can exchange barley or spelt instead of farro. Farro can be found in Whole Foods or health food shops and also in good delicatessens in the dried pasta section. If you are using barley decrease the amount to 1/3 of a cup of barley and increase the initial cooking time to 30 minutes, for a total of about 50 minutes.