Recipe: Ina Garten's Baked Farro & Butternut Squash
Serves 6 to 8
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This is a recipe from California chef Maria Sinskey. It’s delicious as a side dish with a roast chicken but it’s hearty enough to be served as a main course. The flavors and textures of the sweet butternut squash, earthy farro, smoky applewood bacon, and good chicken stock are amazing.
- 6 thick-cut slices applewood-smoked bacon
- 2 tablespoons good olive oil
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 ½ cups chopped yellow onion (1 large)
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 ½ cups pearled farro
- 3 cups good chicken stock, preferably homemade
- 3 cups (¾ -to 1-inch-diced) butternut squash
- ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Place the bacon on a baking rack set on a sheet pan and bake it for 20 to 30 minutes, until browned (it won’t be crisp). Cut the bacon in very large dice.
Meanwhile, in a small (9-inch) Dutch oven, such as Le Creuset, heat the olive oil and butter over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, until tender and starting to brown. Add the thyme, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper and cook for one minute. Add the farro and chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Place the squash on top of the farro mixture, cover, and bake in the same oven with the bacon for 30 minutes, until the squash and farro are tender. Check once during cooking and add a little chicken stock if it’s dry.
Sprinkle the bacon and Parmesan on the squash and faro and bake uncovered for 15 to 20 minutes, until most of the liquid evaporates, the farro and butternut squash are tender, and the cheese has melted. Serve hot directly from the pot.
Note: Peel butternut squash and cut it in half so it doesn’t wobble while you dice it.
MAKE IT AHEAD: Assemble the dish, including the bacon and Parmesan, and refrigerate for up to 2 days. Bake before serving..
Reprinted from Make it Ahead. Copyright © 2014 by Ina Garten. Photographs by Quentin Bacon. Published by Clarkson Potter/Publishers, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC.
