For Best Chefs America
Charlie Bird, the hip Italian restaurant in NYC's SoHo district, serves a farro salad that is revered as one of the best salads in the city. This recipe was recently featured in the NY Times. Best Chefs America has a slightly updated version. Follow along to concoct this delicious dish at home.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup farro, raw (preferrably from Abruzzo, Italy)
- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
- 2 cups water (more if necessary)
- 1/2 tbsp kosher salt
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/2 cup parmigiano cheese (shaved with a vegetable peeler)
- 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, fresh from the vine
- 1/2 cup toasted pistachios, shelled
- 1/2 cup arugula leaves
- 16 - 20 basil leaves (whole)
- 12 - 16 mint leaves (whole)
- 6 radishes (shaved on the mandolin)
- 4 - 5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tsp maldon sea salt
Directions:
1) Cover the farro with apple cider vinegar, salt, and bay leaves and bring the mixture to a simmer. Cook, adding more water if necessary for 30 minutes, until the farro is tender and the water has evaporated.
The end result should look similar to brown rice, but far easier to cook.
2) To make the salad: combine the cooked farro, tomatoes, cheese, and pistachios together with lemon and olive oil. You can leave the base of the salad in the bowl for up to an hour before serving. Right before you're ready to eat, add arugula, basil, mint, radish, and maldon sea salt. We like to serve this salad at room temperature. You can also dine on it chilled.
(Serves 2-4)
**Note from Chef Hardy: If you don't have fresh summer tomatoes that taste like candy, roast them or substitute them for something else like pumpkin in the fall, fava beans, or charred grilled spring onions. Bon Appetite!
