Farro is an ancient grain – a variety of wheat that consists of spelt, emmer, and einkorn. As can be imagined by being ancient, there is a twisted history of ‘farro’ and what defines ‘farro’. If you wish to enjoy this confusing taxonomical mess, just jump over to Wikipedia and read on. Be sure to come back because this post will demonstrate how to cook farro sous vide and do it for a single diner. Much like the recent rice and lentil posts that relied on sous vide to cook these ingredients gently and perfectly in their small portions, farro is ripe for the same treatment. The real difference is in the method – using ice in the vacuum bag and draining the remaining cooking liquid.  I was unsure of the steps myself, so I made the recipe using water and using ice. The results are below – can you tell which one was cooked with ice? Regardless of the cooking method, all I know is this grain has a wonderfully nutty flavor. I augmented that nuttiness by tossing it in melted slightly browned butter. I bet folding in some grated Parmesan or Romano cheese would make an easy ‘farrotto’.  Talk about simple… and delicious! Give it a try and add it to your repertoire. Substitute it for rice or couscous or experiment as I did as a side dish and you too, can enjoy the tasty, nutty flavor from this ancient grain.

Heat the water bath to 183 degrees F. Using a fine mesh strainer, rinse the farro in cold water and soak for 10 minutes swirling the grains occasionally to remove any dirt and excess starch.

Rinse well before placing the farro, salt, and water or ice into a recloseable bag. Remove as much air as possible using the water displacement method.

Place bag into water bath for 1 hour.

After cooking, drain the farro of any remaining liquid. Fluff lightly with a fork before using in a recipe or serving.

Enjoy!

Cooked in water above and ice below, can you tell the difference?

 

Another close up of cooked in water above and ice below. Can you tell the difference?

Which one is this?