Thursday, May 21, 2009

Farro Salad with Squid, Chorizo and Fresh Favas

This was featured in Food & Wine, April 2006, Wine Country Recipes - South Australia. I love squid and chorizo, but have never tried Farro. Marjoram was another rarely used ingredient in my cooking. I added some fresh Fava beans, another recently discovered treasure, for their beautiful color, texture and taste.



This would be a perfect salad for a gourmet picnic for two, paired with a nice bottle of Shiraz.

Ingredients

1 cup farro
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 small red onion, finely chopped
2 ounces dry chorizo, skinned and sliced 1/4 inch thick (1/2 cup)
3/4 pound cleaned squid— bodies cut into 1/4-inch rings, large tentacles halved
Salt
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cup shelled fava beans (my variation)
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 tablespoon chopped marjoram
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
Freshly ground pepper

Directions

Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Add the farro, cover and simmer over low heat until the farro is al dente, about 45 minutes. Drain and transfer to a serving bowl.
In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Add the onion and cook over moderately high heat until softened, about 2 minutes. Stir in the chorizo and cook until sizzling, about 2 minutes. Add the squid and cook, stirring, until just white throughout, about 2 minutes. Season with salt.
Add the squid to the farro along with the cherry tomatoes, fava beans, parsley, marjoram, vinegar and the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper, toss well and serve right away.

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