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I don’t know how long I’ve been reading Heidi Swanson’s blog 101 Cookbooks, but I know that it’s been more than a decade. She strikes me as a complex person: confident without being aloof, endlessly creative with the simplest ingredients, sophisticated but never fussy.
I’ve enjoyed all of her cookbooks, but am particularly fond of her latest, Near & Far: Recipes Inspired by Home and Travel. In it she highlights one of my favorite parts about travel, the taste expansion and inspiration that I invariably return home with. Making a dish that I’ve learned in some far away place can transport me back there like nothing else. But I also love her nod to ‘near,’ because I find ample ways to be expanded and inspired in my daily life, by familiar people and places.
I’ve made several recipes out of her new book (Including her salad with Fregola Sarda pasta), and this is one of my favorites (not just because it’s from Italy, which as you know, is near and dear to my heart.) Like many of Heidi’s recipes, the ingredients in this farro salad caught me by surprise in that how-have-I-never-thought-of-this-before kind of way. Really, why not combine buttery green olives with crunchy nuts and sweet, chewy raisins? This salad is a savory, salty, sweet, tangy combination that will have you nodding your head in satisfaction with every bite .
I’ve tweaked the recipe just a bit, using hazelnuts instead of walnuts, fewer onions, more Pecorino and a scatter of Italian parsley.
If you love farro salads, don’t miss these: Greek Farro Salad, Charlie Bird Farro Salad, and Smoked Salmon Salad.
Farro Salad with Green Olives, Hazelnuts and Raisins
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups whole farro
- 3 cups water
- large pinch fine-grain sea salt
- 2 tablespoons Meyer Lemon juice about 1/2 a lemon
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 cup Castelvetrano or other buttery green olive coarsely chopped
- 1 cup toasted hazelnuts coarsely chopped
- 3 green onions roughly chopped
- 1/3 cup golden raisins look for golden Himalayan raisins – they’re delicious and usually unsulphered
- large pinch crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 ounce shaved pecorino plus more for serving
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
Instructions
- Combine farro, water, and salt in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Cover, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Gently simmer 30 minutes, until farro is tender but not mushy. Drain excess water. Set aside to cool.
- In a large serving bowl, whisk together lemon juice, honey and olive oil. Stir in olives, hazelnuts, green onions, raisins, crushed red pepper and 1 ounce of pecorino. Add farro and toss to thoroughly combine.
- Top with parsley and several pecorino shavings; serve.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Actually, I have – but not made by ME!!! 🙂
Farro is wonderful, Marissa, and I love 101 Cookbooks too, so I’m really excited that you took this from one of her cookbooks. What an interesting combination of ingredients – just my kind of thing.
Me too, Helen! Thanks so much…
I really need to check her books out! This salad looks amazing! Love farro and need to cook it more often!
Thanks, Mira. I know what you mean – I get on little kicks of cooking it and then forget about it for a few months or until I seem some must-try recipe. 🙂
Sounds like an awesome combination! And apart from the olives I think I have most of these ingredients at home so this could be really doable too 😀
Thanks, Lorraine. If you end up making it, I’d love hear what you think! 🙂