Recipe: Nettle Farrotto

Recipe: Nettle Farrotto

  • posted on: April 21, 2020
  • posted by: Kari Fetrow
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Hi friends! Kari here, chiming in with another nettle recipe (tis the season!). If you’ve never tried farro before, this is the recipe for you. It’s a lovely introduction to this wonderful whole grain just using one pot, and there’s zero chance to mess up this meal. Traditionally risotto is made with arborio rice, but I don’t always have it on hand and I really like the nuttiness and filling quality the einkorn lends. Plus, several of the steps can be done in advance so the actual effort and cooking is close to zero. My entire family loved this meal, the flavors were spot on and everyone from ages 3 to 36 licked their plates clean. 

If you want to harvest your own nettles see this blog post from a few weeks ago. (You still have plenty of time!)

Nettle Farrotto
serves 4

Ingredients: 

1 cup einkorn farro
4 cups chicken stock/water
1/3 cup wine (I used a local rose I had on hand)
2 tbsp Cherry Valley Dairy Grey Salt Butter
1 shallot or 1/2 medium onion, finely diced
4 cloves garlic, finely diced
1 small Parmesan rind, optional 
2 cups chicken, cooked ahead and shredded
1/2 cup nettle puree, prepared ahead
1/2 cup peas, frozen or fresh
salt + pepper

Directions: 

Begin by heating a large skillet that has a lid over medium to medium high heat. Add the butter, shallot/onion, and the garlic. Saute for 4-5 minutes or until the shallot is translucent. Add the einkorn farro and toast for another 5ish minutes, stirring frequently. Then add the wine and reduce for 2 minutes. After the wine reduces, add the 4 cups of chicken stock and the Parmesan rind and bring to a boil. Stir and cover once it boils and reduce the heat to medium low for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Once the farro is done cooking, taste to make sure it is softened (it will remain a tad bit chewy) and seasoned (with salt and pepper), then add the peas, the nettle puree, and the chicken. Serve with your favorite Parmesan on top (I recommend Judy’s Parm from Golden Glen Creamery). 

For the Chicken:
If you haven’t prepared the chicken beforehand, do it while the farro is cooking. The way that I cook chicken to be shredded is in my instant pot from frozen. Take 2 chicken breasts and a cup of water and plop that right into the instant pot and cook on high pressure for 8 minutes. Any release method is acceptable. If doing this without an instant pot, then you can either boil some chicken or roast it in your favorite way. 

For the Nettle Puree: 
This can be done up to 4 days in advance or weeks or even months in advance if you freeze it. Bring a pot of salty water to a boil. Add the nettles and boil for 2 minutes. Put them directly into your blender or food processor and blend until smooth. You can make it pesto-like and add salt, Parm, pinenuts, and olive oil, or you can leave it plain. It turns out beautiful and flavorful either way.