Author Notes
By late summer I'm always looking for new ways to use the containers of pesto overtaking my freezer. I’d noticed a recipe for farro with pesto in a souvenir cookbooklet from a lovely farm in Siena, a big bowl of cherry tomatoes sat on my table...a little improvising, and this salad happened. It's an easy side dish, but substantial enough to fill out a meal for vegetarian guests. —amysarah
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Ingredients
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2 cups
(350 g) Farro
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1 cup
(225 g) Basil Pesto, homemade or store bought
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3 tablespoons
Extra virgin olive oil
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1/2 pound
(250 g) Cherry tomatoes, cut in half, or quarters if large
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2 ounces
(60 grams) Pitted Kalamata olives, roughly chopped
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3 ounces
(85 g) small arugula leaves
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Kosher salt, to taste
Directions
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Boil a large pot of salted water. Meanwhile, rinse the farro in a colander. Boil farro for 20-30 minutes until tender, but still chewy. Drain well and set aside to cool.
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When cooled, mix the pesto and olive oil into the farro to coat well. Add the cherry tomatoes and olives. Taste and add salt if necessary, depending on saltiness of the pesto. Refrigerate. (Can be prepared to this point several hours ahead.)
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Remove the farro from the fridge about an hour before serving, to bring it to room temp. Just before serving, gently toss in the arugula leaves, to disperse among the grains. I like to serve this in a large, shallow rustic salad bowl or platter.
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