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Corn and Farro Salad with Roasted Chick Peas

Nutty, earthy, chewy, farro has a lot to love. Today it’s regarded as a special treat, but in Ancient Rome, the wheat was a military-issue staple. Here it is tossed with sweet corn, salty ricotta salata, and paprika-spiced chickpeas for an al fresco-worthy meal.

Course Salad
Cuisine American
Keyword easy lunch recipe, light recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Servings 2 servings
Author Sun Basket

Ingredients

  • 1/3 cup semi-perlato farro
  • ounces hazelnuts
  • 1 to 2 shallots
  • 4 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil separated
  • ¾ cup chickpeas
  • 2 ears corn
  • 4 sprigs fresh dill
  • 1/4 teaspoon of each: onion powder - coriander - sweet smoked paprika
  • 2 ounces baby arugula
  • 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
  • 1 ounce ricotta salata
  • Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Instructions

Cook the farro

  1. Heat the oven to 350ºF
  2. In a pot, combine the farro and 2 cups salted water. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook until tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Drain. While the farro cooks, toast the hazelnuts.

Toast the hazelnuts

  1. On a sheet pan, spread the hazelnuts in an even layer. Toast in the oven until lightly browned, 7 to 10 minutes. Let cool, and then coarsely chop. While the hazelnuts toast, prepare the vegetables.

Prep the vegetables

  1. Peel and thinly slice the shallot.
  2. Rinse the chickpeas.
  3. Shuck the corn; lay the ears flat and cut the kernels from the cobs.
  4. Coarsely chop the dill.

Cook the chickpeas and corn

  1. In a pan over medium heat, warm 2 tablespoons olive oil until hot but not smoking. Add the shallot and cook, stirring occasionally, until starting to soften, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the chickpeas, onion powder, coriander and smoked paprika and cook, stirring occasionally, until the chickpeas are heated through and fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the corn and cook until just warmed through, 1 to 2 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper and remove from the heat.

Finish the salad

  1. In a bowl, combine the chickpea-corn mixture, farro, dill, arugula, sherry vinegar, and 2 tablespoons oil. Toss well to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Serve

  1. Transfer the salad to individual bowls. Using a peeler, shave or crumble the ricotta salata on top. Garnish with the hazelnuts and serve.