Farro

Directions

→ 1 cup uncooked farro weighs 7 ounces (200 g).

→ Use 1¾ parts liquid to 1 part farro as a rule of thumb for the absorption method; the boil-like-pasta method also works well with farro.

→ Cook farro for 20 to 50 minutes, depending on whether the grains are pearled or not; hulled farro can take a long time to cook and benefits from an overnight soak before cooking.

→ 1 cup (200 g) uncooked farro yields 2½ cups (390 g) cooked.

→ 1 cup farro flour weighs 4.25 ounces (120 g).

Notes

Among all the whole-grain kernels, farro is the one that I cook with the most. The Italians love farro, and hence I do, too. It's nutty and earthy and retains a lovely chewy texture without being slightly, er, slick like barley is (don't get me wrong, I love barley, too). Farro flour is also delicious and easy to bake with.

You see farro in hulled (meaning it includes all the bran), semipearled, or pearled forms. Much farro is imported from Italy and not all the packaging is labeled clearly, so you may have to use trial and error to determine cooking times.