Umbrian Insalata di farro - Spelt Salad with Courgette and Rocket
Farro is central Italy's ancient grain, grown in Umbria since Roman times. As a lukewarm salad with fried courgette, rocket and lemon it is Italy's answer to the grain bowl - a couple of millennia older.
- 45 minutes
- 4 servings
- Main course
- vegan
- lactose-free
- high in fibre
- high in protein
- blood-sugar balancing
- plant-based
- heart-healthy
Ingredients
- 240 g Spelt (weighed raw, whole grain - called farro in Italy)
- 250 g Cherry tomatoes (halved, raw)
- 200 g Courgette (sliced, seared in a hot pan)
- 60 g Rocket (added only once the salad is lukewarm)
- 40 g Green olives (pitted, rinsed, halved)
- 40 g Olive oil
- 30 g Lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
- 20 g Pine nuts (toasted in a dry pan)
- 10 g Basil (torn)
- 3 g Salt
Instructions
- Boil the spelt in plenty of water for 25 to 30 minutes until tender but still firm to the bite. Drain and let it steam dry; do not rinse it cold - the grain should take up the dressing.
- Brown the courgette slices on both sides in a very hot pan with some of the olive oil. They should take colour, not steam.
- Toast the pine nuts golden in a dry pan, stirring, and remove them at once - they burn within seconds.
- Whisk lemon juice, the remaining olive oil and salt and pour it over the still-warm spelt. Let it stand for ten minutes.
- Fold in courgette, cherry tomatoes and olives.
- Only once the salad is lukewarm, fold in rocket, basil and pine nuts - on hot grain the rocket collapses immediately.
Farro ist nicht gleich Farro
In Italy the word covers three related ancient grains: farro piccolo (einkorn), farro medio (emmer) and farro grande (spelt). What is usually sold is emmer; the values used here are spelt's - they sit close together, and both keep their bite.
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