This Farro Risotto is cozy and delicious! Served with roasted acorn squash, and a flavorful pesto, this vegetarian dinner recipe is perfect for fall!
Why You’ll Love Farro Risotto!
This Farro Risotto is a beautiful celebration of fall, created by Tony Brown, chef and owner of two of Spokane’s hippest and tastiest restaurants, Stella’s Cafe and his latest venture, Ruins. Tony’s style of food is seasonal, simple, and unfussy, yet creative and unique. This Farro Risotto is laid atop roasted acorn squash and garnished with a flavorful pesto made from radish tops (or sub our arugula pesto). Such a brilliant use for radish tops!
- Seasonal! A vegetarian-friendly way to celebrate fall produce.
- Vegetarian. A crowd-pleasing meat-free recipe.
- Full of nutrients. A healthy whole-grain recipe made with simple, vitamin-rich whole foods.
- Robust flavor. Garlicky, lemony, and cheesy with just the right amount of heat.
Why Farro?
For the risotto, we are using farro instead of arborio rice. Farro, if unfamiliar, is an ancient grain, originating from the Fertile Crescent—it has been found in the tombs of Egyptian kings.
Italians have grown and cooked farro for many centuries, and now with the increasing interest in whole grains, farro’s popularity is finally gaining here as well.
Farro Risotto Ingredients
- Farro: We use dry farro here instead of arborio rice. Farro is a whole grain rich in dietary fiber, protein, and antioxidants.
- Acorn squash: Roasted acorn squash becomes the vessel for the farro risotto.
- Arugula: Or sub radish tops or basil leaves for the pesto. We so love the use of radish tops here! There is no other way to describe this pesto other than, totally brilliant. You could put radish top pesto on anything.
- Garlic cloves: Adds pungent, aromatic taste to the pesto.
- Toasted almonds: Toasted almonds adds even more depth and richness to the pesto.
- Lemon juice: Infuses the pesto with vibrant, citrusy flavor. Feel free to save some lemon zest for garnish!
- Veggie broth: To give the risotto deep, savory flavor.
- Parmesan cheese: Or pecorino. Use grated cheese for optimal flavor and texture, giving both the risotto and the pesto rich, cheesy flavor.
- Butter and olive oil: You can use either butter or olive oil for the risotto, depending on your preference. Olive oil is used to roast the squash to caramelized perfection and is the base for the pesto.
- Cayenne: Adds just the right amount of heat to the roasted squash.
- Mizuna leaves: Or arugula. A handful of bitter greens for garnish.
Ingredient FAQs
You can make this dish with traditional risotto, like our Instant Pot Risotto, however the cooking method will be different from farro.
Yes! We love acorn squash because it is the ideal size to hold the farro risotto in the center. However, you could layer it on top of roasted butternut squash, pumpkin, or delicata squash too!
Vegetable broth is best here because it gives the risotto its savory flavor along with the cheese. The farro is cooked with water then simmered with broth and parmesan to create risotto.
How to make Farro Risotto
Preheat oven to 400F.
Step 1: Roast acorn squash. Slice squash into 4 rings, 3/4-inch thick, and remove seeds. Brush sides with olive oil and season with kosher salt, black pepper, and a dash of cayenne. Bake 25-30 minutes on a parchment-lined baking sheet until fork tender.
Step 2: Cook farro. In a medium pot or large saucepan, add farro and cover with 2 inches of water. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer until tender. Cook 15-20 minutes for pearled farro, 20-30 minutes for semi-pearled farro, and up to 45 minutes for whole farro. If overcooked, soak in ice-cold water to stop the cooking process. Drain liquid from the farro.
Step 3: Make radish top pesto. Add radish tops (or arugula), garlic, oil, salt, lemon juice, parmesan, and toasted almonds to a food processor and pulse until combined. Be careful not to blend too smooth. Granular is good!
Step 4: Prepare the risotto. Add the farro back to the pot along with the butter and stock. Simmer over medium heat until warmed through. Add cheese, stir, and add salt and pepper to taste. For a looser consistency, add more broth as needed.
Step 5: Assemble. Place an acorn squash ring on each plate, fill with risotto, top with pesto, and scatter with bitter greens. Add fresh herbs too if you wish! Sprigs of thyme are lovely with this fall dish and make a pretty garnish.
Recipe FAQs
Instead of traditional arborio rice, we use the ancient grain farro, along with butter, parmesan, and veggie broth.
Farro tastes much like brown rice, but is nuttier and chewier.
Farro is an ancient whole grain packed with vitamins and minerals, including calcium, iron, magnesium, niacin, and zinc. Keep in mind, it does contain gluten.
This is always a good idea no matter what grain you are cooking to remove any dust from processing.
Enjoy Tony’s Farro Risotto dish and let us know what you think in the comments!
More favorite Farro Recipes
Farro Risotto Recipe
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 60 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 4
- Category: vegetarian Main
- Method: stove top
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
Farro Risotto with roasted acorn squash and pesto- a cozy delicious vegetarian main course, perfect for fall!
Ingredients
Farro Risotto
- 2 cups dry farro
- 2–3 tablespoons butter or extra virgin olive oil
- 4 tablespoons grated parmesan or pecorino
- 1/2 cup veggie broth
Roasted Acorn Squash
- 1 cup arugula (or basil leaves) packed
- 1–2 cloves garlic
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
- 1/4 cup Parmesan
- 1/4 cup toasted almonds
Garnish: handful of bitter greens for garnish (mizuna, arugula)
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 400 F
- Slice acorn squash, into 4 rings, ¾ inch thick, remove seeds. Brush sides with olive oil, Sprinkle with salt, pepper and a dash of cayenne, and bake on a parchement-lined baking sheet for 25-30 minutes, until fork tender.
- Place farro in a medium pot and cover with an 2 inches of water and bring to a boil. Once boiling, cover, and simmer on low until tender. Drain. (Allow 15- 20 minutes for pearled farro, 20 to 30 minutes for semi-pearled farro and up to 45 minutes for whole farro.) If overcooked, soak in ice-cold water to stop the cooking process.
- Make the pesto -pulse all ingredients – arugula, garlic, oil, salt, lemon juice, Parmesan and toasted almonds– in a food processor until combined ( don’t blend too smooth, leave a little granular).
- Make the risotto. Once the farro is tender and drained, add it back into the pot, add the butter, stock and simmer over medium heat, until warmed through, add cheese, stir, and adjust salt and pepper to taste. For a looser consistency, add more broth as needed.
- To assemble, place an acorn squash ring on a plate, fill with risotto, top with the pesto, and scatter bitter greens around the plate. Enjoy!
Notes
The pesto can be made ahead and the farro can cooked ahead.
The original recipe was made with radish top pesto ( simply sub the arugula in the pesto with green radish tops)
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 576
- Sugar: 1.4 g
- Sodium: 463.5 mg
- Fat: 32 g
- Saturated Fat: 5.6 g
- Carbohydrates: 18 g
- Fiber: 2.9 g
- Protein: 7.6 g
- Cholesterol: 7.2 mg
This recipe is amazing! It’s nutty and has a great mixture of flavors. Everyone in the family loved! Another win from this website. Thank you!!!
Great to hear this Amy! Thanks for circling back and rating it!
I and my husband loved this all the way from London, UK. I struggled to find farro and I had to replace the radish tops with a mix of rucola and basil, but it still turned out absolutely delicious! Thank you for your lovely and inventive recipes Sylvia, they’ve given us lots of lovely meals (and the no knead sourdough bread)!
So happy to hear you are enjoying Karin and love your improvising!
Turned out delicious!
This is such a neat way to top squash!! Loooooving that risotto!!
I agree, Tony’s recipe is really amazing. Have a great weekend Katrina!
Very impressive. Nice intro to the whole deal with the picture of the wonderful turquoise door.Isn’t it amazing too how much presentation enhances the excitement about the dish.
Yes, I love the blue door…and the food coming out here is delicious!