Recipes for Health
Martha Rose Shulman on healthful cooking.
Wheat berries like farro, spelt and kamut are hearty, and I usually associate them with cool-weather dishes. But I’m working on a pantry cleanout, as I do every summer, and I found a number of half-filled bags that needed my attention. I cooked up big pots of farro and spelt after soaking the grains overnight. I usually soak wheat berries for only an hour, but I thought I’d see what an overnight soak yielded. Then I used them in several cool summer dishes.
Even though these grains are, according to Clifford Wright, one and the same (his treatise, which is convincing, goes against the opinion of just about every other food writer I’ve read on the subject), the two grains that I cooked turned out very differently. The one packaged as farro was softer, sweeter and much starchier; the grains splayed more quickly than the spelt, which remained chewy even after the grains splayed. I used the farro to stuff vegetables. The spelt was great in salads and as a garnish for a gazpacho. Both were terrific in big bowls with ratatouille.
I suspect that a lot of farmers let the market determine whether or not they are going to call their wheat farro or spelt. Farro seems to be a sexier name; it sells in restaurants. In Provençe, I cook a grain called “petit épautre,” or “little farro.” It too is softer than the wheat berries packaged as spelt.
No matter what you call whole wheat berries, they’re all cooked the. Soak one part farro or spelt with three parts water for an hour or longer. Bring to a boil, add salt to taste, reduce the heat, cover and simmer 50 minutes, or until the grains begin to splay. Some brands of farro are softer than others and yield a softer, starchier grain. One cup raw farro or spelt yields three cups cooked.
Cold Tomato Soup with Farro : Wheat berries add texture and substance to this light summer soup, and provide a treat at the bottom of the bowl.
Long-Simmered Eggplant Stuffed with Farro or Spelt : This take on imam bayildi becomes more of a stuffed eggplant dish when cooked farro is added to the tomato-onion mix. Make it a day ahead of time for best results.
Chopped Herb Salad With Farro : This dish is modeled on a Middle Eastern tabouli. Add just one cup of cooked farro or spelt to a generous mix of chopped parsley, mint, arugula and other herbs like basil or dill.
Peppers Stuffed with Farro and Smoked Cheese : This dish combines smoky-flavored cheese and paprika with the crunch of the farro and walnuts. Simmer the farro or spelt until it splays.
Summer Big Bowl With Farro and Ratatouille : Turn ratatouille into a meal with farro at the base of a summer big bowl. Top with a poached egg or with cheese.