farro risotto with rancho gordo beans

For my birthday, my incredible friend ordered five pounds of Rancho Gordo beans for me, along with the Rancho Gordo Heirloom Beans cookbook. While I put the beans in their awesomely packaged bags on display in my kitchen, I couldn't decide what recipe merited the addition of these spectacular specimens. Four months later, it hit me, thanks to Smitten Kitchen (one of my all-time favorite blogs) and my love of risotto. 

I took Deb's recipe for barley risotto with beans and greens and used that as a base with a couple twists of my own. First, same incredible friend who gifted me the beans also bought each of us a bag of farro. We had been looking high and low for that elusive grain and once I had it in my hands, I knew I needed to do something with it as soon as possible. So instead of barley, like the recipe originally called for, I used farro.

I also picked some of the prettiest beans of the bunch and used those--cranberry cargamanto beans. Every one will say that once they've used dried beans, they have a hard time turning back to the canned stuff. I'm an official convert and I witnessed it here first hand. No strange liquid to rinse and strain off or weird texture--dried beans are perfect. I'll admit I was scared off by the required overnight soaking + 2-3 hours of cooking time. I love to cook, but this type of preparation seemed excessive

The good news? Well, you still may want to soak them overnight, but beans as fresh as these take no more than half an hour (!). I learned the hard way. I impatiently checked them in their simmering water after one hour and, lo and behold, those little guys were totally cooked (okay, seriously cooked), but luckily not so much so that they completely fell apart in the dish.

The original recipe also called for escarole. I used kale, since I had a bunch left over from a lentil soup that I made earlier. The great thing about this risotto is that it actually reheats well. Not only that, but it only seems to get better the longer that it sits. I just splashed a little water in, stirred it around, and stuck it in the microwave. Really. Risotto in the microwave. Not bad.

farro risotto with kale and cargamanto cranberry beans
adapted from Smitten Kitchen

4 cups low-sodium vegetable stock/broth + water (until you have your desired consistency)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium diced onion
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1 cup white wine (originally recipe calls for 1/2 cup but...I...like...wine)
1 cup farro
1 cup cooked cargamanto cranberry beans (but any good-quality bean should work here)
2 cups chopped kale, pluis some for garnish
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
Salt and pepper

Serves about 4

Bring the stock to a simmer over moderately high heat, then reduce the heat to low and keep warm.

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil. Add the onion and thyme and cook over medium heat until the onion is soft and translucent. Add the farro and cook, stirring for just a few minutes. Add the wine and stir until it is almost completely absorbed. This should only take another minute.

Now you're going to start adding the vegetable stock/broth. Add 1 cup or ladleful of the warm stock and cook, stirring until it is nearly absorbed. Continue adding the stock one ladleful at a time until each addition is almost completely absorbed. If you're getting short on stock, add some water into the warm stock pot and heat again to keep it warm. Continue doing this until the farro is al dente, reserving a little bit of stock. This will take about 35 minutes or so.

Once the farro is cooked to your liking, stir some of the remaining stock in until the risotto is on the loose side, then add the beans and let them cook for a minute. Add the kale, cooking for one minute more, until it is wilted and incorporated into the risotto. Stir in the grated Parmesan and the butter and season with salt and pepper. Serve topped with a bit more Parmesan and some fresh kale.