Farro Soup with Greens

Today was the rainiest of our week of rainy days, complete with thunder and lightning.  We had a great morning at Stacy's with Ivy, Jane, Lily, and Charlie.  The highlight was definitely watching Jane and Ivy racing around after each other and Meatball, the cat.  Those 2 are some fast crawlers!  Speaking of crawling, I think we can officially call Molly a crawler.  She's been going backwards for quite awhile but took 5 forward crawls today.  We'll try and figure out how to flip it and post it.  This afternoon after the power came back on, I made this soup for dinner.  Hearty, healthy, and a great way to sneak in the greens which, again, I'm usually not a fan of.  Try it and hope you enjoy!

Molly watching the storm.

Ivy and Meatball checking out the rain.

So many fun toys at Stacy's!

Farro Soup with Greens (from Outstanding in the Field; a farm to table cookbook, by Jim Denevan)

1 cup semipearled faro
Kosher salt
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil plus more for serving
1 large onion, cut into small dice
1 carrot, peeled and cut into small dice
1 leek, white and light green parts only, cut into small dice
1 clove garlic, minced
1 small dried chile, finely chopped, or 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 bunch of kale, chard, mustard greens, or cabbage, coarsely chopped*
About 6 cups Chicken Stock or low-sodium broth
Freshly ground black pepper
Freshly grated Parmesan or Pecorino cheese, for serving (optional)

Place the farro in a pot, cover it with cold water, and add 1 teaspoon salt. Bring the water to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer until the farro is just tender, about 20 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat.

In the meantime, heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven or other large, heavy-bottomed pot with a tight-fitting lid over medium heat. Add the onion and a pinch of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft, about 8 minutes. Add the carrot and leek and another pinch of salt and continue cooking until the vegetables begin to soften, another 10 minutes. Move some of the vegetables to one side of the pot and add the garlic and chile to the open space. Cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Mix the garlic into the vegetables and add the tomato paste. Cook until the tomato paste begins to caramelize and become sweet, about 5 minutes. Add greens, season with salt, and stir to combine. Cook until the greens wilt and release some of their liquid, about 5 minutes. Add about 2 cups of the stock and bring to a simmer.

Add the farro and its cooking liquid along with enough of the remaining stock to cover the ingredients. Simmer for 20 minutes, adding more stock if necessary to keep the ingredients covered with liquid. When all the vegetables are tender and the flavors have combined, adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper and cover the pot. Let stand for 10 minutes.

Ladle the soup into warmed bowls and drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil. Offer the cheese for grating on top if desired.

*I used collard greens and dandelion greens.  I also added in a couple turnips with the carrots and leek.