Warm Farro Salad with Roast Pumpkin & Mushrooms
Cook Time
45 minutes
Prep Time
15 minutes
Serves
7
Have you ever had a cosy salad? This nutty, almost sweet, perfectly cooked farro paired with sweet cinnamon spiced pumpkin and roasted onions, butter fried mushrooms, toasted pine nuts and garlic, crispy sage and shavings of parmesan is what this warm farro salad is all about. Can I get a heck yes!?
Ingredients
- 1 cup pearled farro
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 800g small pumpkin
- 1 red onion
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 400g mushrooms
- 30g salted butter
- 3 cloves garlic
- 6 sage leaves
- 1/2 cup oregano leaves
- 80g pine nuts
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1 tbsp lemon
- 2 tbsp malt vinegar
- 4 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 C / 350 F. Place pumpkin wedges on a lined roasting pan, drizzle with 1 tbsp olive oil, then add cinnamon and nutmeg, along with a pinch of salt and pepper, toss to combine. Bake for 20 minutes, then turn the pumpkin pieces over and bake for another 15-20 minutes until tender and caramelised. Keep warm.
- At the same time, place the onion pieces on another lined roasting tray, drizzle with 1/2 tbsp of malt vinegar and 1 tbsp of olive oil along with a pinch of salt and pepper, then bake for 30-35 minutes until caramelised. Keep warm.
- Meanwhile, rinse farro under a tap through a sieve, let the water drain out, then add to a saucepan with 1 tbsp olive oil. Cook for 2 minutes (This will add a nutty flavour).
- Add 2 cups of water and 1 cup of chicken stock with a pinch of salt to the farro. Bring to a boil, then cook to packet instructions, however checking for done-ness after 20 minutes, cooking until the farro is chewy but still has a bit of bite to it.
- If the pot still has water in it, drain the farro through a sieve, then add back to the pot. Add 1 tbsp of malt vinegar and a squeeze of lemon, taste and season with a pinch of salt then fluff the farro with a fork. Cover to keep warm.
- When the pumpkin, onions and farro are just about done, add 1 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp olive oil to a frying pan on medium heat, working in batches, add your mushrooms and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side until golden, then season and remove to a plate.
- Add the garlic, cook for about 1-2 minutes then add the pine nuts and sage, season everything with salt and pepper, cook until pine nuts and garlic are golden brown.
- Add the mushrooms and 1 tbsp of butter back to the pan, let everything sizzle together and the sage to crisp up for a minute, remove from heat.
- On a large platter, add most of the farro, then layer pumpkin, onions, mushroom mixture, then remaining farro, parmesan shavings, sage and oregano leaves. Give everything a light drizzle with olive oil, a sprinkle of salt and pepper and serve warm.