Farro and Squash “Risotto” with Caramelized Onions and Mushrooms

I’ve been meaning to cook with the farro (an ancient variety of wheat-related grain) I bought a few weeks ago, so I decided to make a risotto-style dish with what I had lying around.

Farro is pretty easy to prepare, and I find that with enough water to start, you don’t need to pre-soak it. Simply put 1 cup of farro and 4 cups of water in a medium saucepan, bring to a boil, and then simmer until the water is almost gone.

At this point, you could add a nice melting cheese, some Greek yogurt or heavy cream…but since I’m dairy-less at home, I decided to add some kobucha squash (about 3/4 cup diced) that I had steamed earlier in the week. Since the squash was already pretty soft, it was easy to mash with a wooden spoon. The natural smoothness of the squash gave it that nice “creamy” texture of risotto, and the farro has more of a bite than most grains, imitating the toothsome feeling of arborio rice.

The Caramelized Onions and Mushroom Topping

I followed these excellent directions from Simply Recipes for caramelizing onions, with the addition of sliced portobello mushrooms after about 5 minutes of cooking the onions alone.

Servings: It’s enough for 4 servings that make a great lunch or light dinner…or a great side dish too.

Reheat tip: The “risotto” will dry a bit once refrigerated, so add a little veggie broth (or other broth) or water when reheating.