Recipe: Italian farro pilaf with ground beef, fennel and peas

Today is the first day I've ever cooked with or even tasted the grain, farro. I used the "traditional" recipe on the bag as a guide, changing ingredients according to my palate, substituting fresh fennel for the celery and adding frozen peas at the end of the cooking time. It was easy and exceptional. My husband and I loved the toothsome texture and nutty flavor, gobbling it down faster than we'd care to admit.

Yield: 2-3 servings
Time: 30 minutes
Cost: apx. $8.50

Ingredients

• 8 ounces farro
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 small onion, diced (1/2 cup)
• 1 carrot, peeled and diced (1/2 cup)
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/2 large bulb fennel, cored and diced (1 cup), plus fennel fronds for garnish
• 1/3 pound very lean ground beef
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1-2 cups chicken stock
• 1 cup frozen peas
• Parmigianno Reggiano

Directions

1. Bring 5 cups of salted water to a low boil. Cook farro in boiling water until just tender, about 15 minutes. Drain.
2. While farro is cooking, heat oil in a large sauté pan over medium-low heat. Sauté
onion, carrot and fennel 5 minutes, or until just limp. Stir in garlic then beef, breaking up with a fork. Brown slightly, raise heat and add wine, cooking until wine is almost evaporated.
3. Reduce heat to medium and add farro and chicken stock to pan. Cook an additional 10-15 minutes or until farro is tender, yet toothsome, adding additional stock if necessary to cook to your palate's level of doneness. Stir in frozen peas, they will quickly cook within a minute.
4. Season to taste with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Garnish with fennel fronds and Parmesan and serve.

 This recipe was written by Peggy Lampman and originally posted on AnnArbor.com on Jan. 16, 2010.