Yakityak's Pareve Farro
As I mention in the milchig farro recipe, this is a grain that nutritionists recommend. Like bulgur and the wheat used to make bread flour, farro is a species in the genus Triticum. They're siblings, as it were. The farro recipe I make most often is unabashedly milchig, as it calls for smoked cheese. But sometimes you want to make this to go with a fleishig meal. I have adapted the recipe to be pareve, getting the smoke and umami flavors from other sources. The dishes are not the same, but they can play similar roles on the plate.
Ingredients
- 1 cup dried farro
- 2 quarts salted water for cooking farro
- approximately ⅔ oz dried shiitake mushrooms
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- ⅓ cup slivered almonds, toasted
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- ⅛ tsp liquid smoke (optional)
- 1½ tsp tamari
- 1½–2 tbsp olive oil, divided
- smoked Maldon salt, to taste
Method
Cook farro in salted water per package directions; drain.
Meanwhile, soak dried shiitake in boiled water until soft, 20-30 min. Drain, reserving the soaking liquid.
Optional: heat 1-2 tsp of the olive oil in a small pan, sauté the drained shiitake 2-3 min for deeper flavor. If not, the oil will be added later.
Roughly chop the hydrated shiitake. Process in a food processor with 1 tbsp olive oil, the tamari, smoked paprika, and liquid smoke into a coarse paste. Add reserved soaking liquid a teaspoon at a time if it's too dry to come together.
In a large bowl, combine cranberries, chopped almonds, and the mushroom paste.
Stir the hot farro into the bowl. Add the remaining olive oil and stir vigorously.
Season with smoked salt to taste, starting small. It's easy to over salt!
Serve hot or room temp.