Pressure Cooker Farro Stew

It's been a while since I have posted here, this counts as my 7th post for the year. Pretty impressive. However, what I am about to share is really good, and I hope that you guys will whip this up, and enjoy it as much as i do.

Farro is an ingredient that is new to our kitchen, and I have to admit, I really love the texture, taste and cooking with it. With the cooler days upon us, I've been itching to make hearty meals that can also double for delicious quick lunch options the next day. Double boom.

I cooked this entire meal in one pot - actually a pressure cooker. If you do not own a pressure cooker, you have not lived. Buy one. My mother cooks most of her Indian dishes in one, and it makes for quick cooking and easy clean up.

I started by sautéing the onions till they were translucent in OO. Next add the garlic, salt (to taste), a little bit of black pepper and fresh roughly chopped fresh tomatoes to the cooker. Add in the farro and cook for a few minutes.

Next add in one entire tin of crushed tomatoes. I highly recommend that you use high quality crushed tomatoes like San Marzano. Add the chopped herbs, a tablespoon of brown sugar and let the dish simmer for 10- 15 minutes on medium low. Make sure to leave some of the chopped herbs for garnishing.

Once the dish has simmered for 10 minutes, add chicken stock (if you are a vegetarian, you can use vegetable stock or water), and give the farro a good stir. I used two cups since I wanted the stew to be soupy. Up to you on how much you use.

Fasten the lid on securely, adjust temp to medium, and let the pressure cooker blow two whistles (this sounds odd, but once you have cooked with a pressure cooker, this will make sense). Turn off the heat, and let the cooker sit for 10-15 minutes.

Finish by adding fresh lemon juice, a little brown sugar and the remaining herbs. I also drizzled a bit of OO to add some richness. I topped mine with some fresh avocado, however you can eat this with some fresh bread or even roasted veggies like eggplant or squash.

Next time, I am going to experiment and add chicken breast to this.

If you do not own a pressure cooker, follow the same instructions, but I would precook the farro and let the stew cook on the stove for 45 minutes or more, so that the flavors marinate on medium heat.

Let me know if you make it, I'd love to hear how it turned out, and what modifications you made to it.

Ingredients:

2 onions roughly diced

4-6 cloves of garlic - chopped finely

28 oz of crushed tomatoes

2 fresh tomatoes - washed and diced

1 cup of uncooked farro (Trader Joes has good options)

Salt/Pepper/Olive Oil

1/4 cup of fresh dill

1/4 cup of fresh flat parsley

Fresh basil (up to you on how much)

2 cups of chicken or vegetable stock

1-2 tablespoons of brown sugar (depends on how sweet you want the dish to be)

Good squeeze of lemon - 2 tablespoons or so

1 ripe avocado

Don't worry too much on the proportions - have fun with the dish and figure out what flavor profile you want.