Our trip to Wine Country went by in a blink. In two days, we crammed in tastings at V. Sattui Winery and Heitz Cellar, dinner at Morimoto Napa and Mustards Grill, and countless trips to Oxbow Public Market (at my insistence). Napa Valley truly is a foodie’s dream. Everything we drank and ate was delicious – just don’t ask Jason about the Niman Ranch barbecued baby back ribs he ordered at Mustards Grill.
One of the many highlights, surprisingly, was a cold farro salad we picked up at Dean & DeLuca before heading to V. Sattui. It was packed with flavor and was so refreshing. My only regret is that I didn’t pay closer attention to the ingredients before we scarfed it down during our picnic. (The only remnant I have is this small, shady photo.) So, of course, one of the first things I did on the way home was look online for a copycat recipe. Alas, my search came up empty.
I did, however, find another farro salad recipe and, since I’ve never cooked with farro, decided to take it on as a new ingredient challenge. It doesn’t compare to the Dean & DeLuca version but is definitely worth making, especially if you add a few tablespoons of basil vinaigrette to the grain and veggie mixture.
P.S. If you have the Dean & DeLuca farro salad recipe or know where to find it, let me know!
Recipe adapted from Bon Appétit.
- 6 cups water
- 2 cups farro
- 5 tablespoons olive oil
- 2½ tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 cup frozen shelled fava beans
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 3 plum tomatoes, seeded and finely diced
- 2 cups arugula
- 3 tablespoons basil vinaigrette (optional but highly recommended)
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- In a medium sauce pan, combine the water and farro. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium. Cover partially and simmer until the farro is tender, about 20 minutes. Drain well.
- Whisk olive oil and vinegar in a large bowl. Season with salt. Add farro and toss to combine. Let cool.
- Meanwhile, fill a medium pot with water and bring to a boil; then turn off the heat. Add fava beans and peas and cover until bright green; then drain immediately. Rinse beans and peas in cold water and drain; then add to farro. (You can leave the skins on the fava beans, but I like to peel them off so you can see their bright green color.)
- Add tomatoes, arugula and basil vinaigrette, if using, to farro mixture. Toss to combine. Season generously with salt and pepper.
Last time we were up there, we skipped the fancy dinner at Bouchon because I knew it couldn’t top the roast beef sandwich and farro salad picnic lunch we got from Dean & Deluca. Obsessed like you, I tried to recreate it before heading up that way last weekend. We stopped at D&D and picked up a container for a side-by-side comparison, because we’re nerds. 😉 The only notable difference was theirs has very thin zucchini half-moons, which to me didn’t add anything besides hassle. Here’s my version:
Cook 1 c Farro (should yield about 3 c cooked). Drain and add: 1/2 c pesto (more or less, depending on how strong it is); 1/3 c chopped sun-dried tomatoes; 1/4 c toasted pine nuts; 1 c baby arugula; 1 c frozen large peas; pepper to taste. Mix, and add salt and olive oil if needed (again, it depends on the pesto). Tah-dah! ^_^
Artie – Your copycat recipe sounds amazing … I love anything with sun-dried tomatoes in it. I’ll have to give your version a try!