Greening Austin Daily

Recipe Tuesday – Farro and Roasted Acorn Squash

17th August, 2010 - Posted by katherine - No Comments

Last week my husband tried out this new recipe and it turned out really well! We actually saw the recipe on the back of the farro package (farro is a type of grain), but I also have seen the same recipe several places online.  He used acorn squash rather than butternut squash because we had some leftover, and he didn’t use walnut oil, just olive oil.  Here are the ingredients he used:

2 cups farro, rinsed and drained
2 teaspoons fine-grain sea salt
5 cups water (or stock)
3 cups acorn squash, cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 large red onion cut into 1/8ths
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 cup walnuts, deeply toasted
3 tablespoons toasted walnut oil (or more olive oil)
1/4 cup goat cheese, crumbled

And the directions:

Preheat oven to 375.

Combine the farro, salt, and water in a large, heavy saucepan over medium heat. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the farro is tender, 45 minutes to an hour, or about half the time if you are using semi-pearled farro. Taste often as it is cooking, you want it to be toothsome and retain structure. Remove from heat, drain any excess water, and set aside.

While the farro is cooking toss the squash, onion, and thyme with the olive oil, balsamic vinegar and a couple big pinches of salt on a rimmed baking sheet. Arrange in a single layer and place in the oven for about 20 minutes. Toss the squash and onions every 5-7 minutes to get browning on multiple sides. Remove from the oven, let cool a bit, and mince just 1/2 of the red onions.

In a large bowl gently toss the everything (except the goat cheese) with the toasted walnut oil (or olive oil). Taste and add a bit of salt if necessary. Garnish with the goat cheese.