Farro with Tiny Meatballs & Parmigiano Crisp

Recipe from Rustico Cooking Umbria & Tuscany Culinary Tour

© Liliana Tommasini

May 5, 2009

This recipe is the second in a series of Rustico Cooking Culinary Tour articles.

Farro with Tiny Meatballs & Parmigiano Crisp Recipe

From Chef Marco Gubbiotti, La Bastiglia, Spello, Umbria

Serves 8

Ingredients:

For the farro:

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 celery stalk, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1 small yellow onion, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
• Pinch chili flakes
• 16 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 3 ounces Prosciutto rind or Pancetta
• 10 cups chicken broth
• 1 and ½ cups cracked farro (emmer wheat)
• ½ cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano
• 1 tablespoon minced thyme

For the meatballs:

• ½ pound coarsely ground fatty pork
• grated zest of ½ lemon
• 1 tablespoon minced Italian parsley
• 1 large egg, beaten to blend
• ½ cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For the Parmigiano crisps:

• 2 cups freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano

For serving the Farro with Tiny Meatballs and Parmigiano Crisp:

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 6 cherry tomatoes, halved

How to Prepare the Farro with Tiny Meatballs & Parmigiano Crisp Recipe:

Prepare the Farro:

1. Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a deep, wide saucepan over a medium flame.
2. Add the celery, carrot, onion, garlic, chili flakes, cherry tomatoes, and Prosciutto rind.
3. Cook 10 minutes, or until the vegetablesare soft.
4. Add 6 cups of the broth and bring to a boil.
5. Cook 20 minutes, then pass through a food mill and return to the pan. (Use a food processor or blender if you do not have a food mill, discarding the Prosciutto rind first.)
6. Bring the liquid to a boil and add the farro.
7. Cook, stirring and adding the remaining 4 cups of broth by the ½ cup, until the farro is al dente, about 20 minutes (you may not need all the broth).
8. Stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons ofolive oil, the Parmigiano and the thyme.
9. Spoon into eight 8-ounce ramekins and cool to room temperature.

Prepare the Meatballs:

1. Mix all the ingredients into a paste with your hands and shape into walnutsize balls with moist hands.

Prepare the Parmigiano Crisps:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line an 11-inch x 17-inch baking sheet with a silpat liner (a non-stick silicone liner; available in kitchenware shops).
2. Sprinkle ¼ cup mounds of the Parmigiano Reggiano on the silpat, making 4 distinct circles each measuring about 4 inches in diameter, leaving about 1 inchbetween the mounds.
3. Bake in the preheated oven until the Parmigiano Reggiano melts and forms 4 lacy pancakes, about 10minutes; the edges should be barely golden.
4. Repeat with the remaining Parmigiano Reggiano.

How to Serve the Farro with Tiny Meatballs and Parmigiano Crisp:

1. Heat the olive oil in a wide skillet over a medium flame.
2. Add the meatballs and tomatoes and cook 5 minutes, or until the meatballs are cooked all the way through.
3. Unmold each ramekin onto a plate. Spoon the hot meatballs and cherry tomatoes over the farro and serve immediately, topped with the Parmigiano crisp.

Written permission to print the Farro with Tiny Meatballs and Parmigiano Crisp was granted by Micol Negrin of Rustico Cooking.

Micol Negrin is the author of Rustico: Regional Italian Country Cooking and The Italian Grill.

Recipes from the Rustico Cooking Culinary Tours:

• Roasted Peppers Eggplant and Cheese Terrine
• Truffled Lasagna from Umbria

Farro with Tiny Meatballs

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