so... what's in your pantry?
if your kitchen is anything like mine, there is a seemingly endless supply of dry goods that haven't made it into the typical rotation of meals. i love having infrequently used ingredients on hand for when inspiration strikes, and folks tend to gift me pantry items for my love of cooking.
for that reason, we have a healthy supply of unique dry beans, assorted lentils, uncommon grains and mung beans. so many mung beans. sometimes i open the pantry door and can't think anything but "where did all of this stuff come from? when did we buy this?!"
if your pantry for some totally crazy reason holds the same treasures as mine - you're in for a treat! we're on a mission to eat through the pantry and the freezer before moving (more on that soon!) in just a few short months. how are we going to accomplish that? we've committed to buying nothing but fresh, perishable items. it's time to get creative with what we have, and take advantage of having months of food stored away! so - the blog will be featuring a number of recipes filled with the treasures of my pantry!
thankfully, the freezer held the joyful bounty of tempeh from the brinery in ann arbor. this, my friends, is leagues beyond any tempeh you've tasted to this day. unpasteurized and traditionally made, both the texture and the flavor are out of this world. if you're in michigan, i HIGHLY recommend you test this tempeh out!
plus, we have farro coming out of our ears - so here we go, farro tempeh with carrot, kale, and tempeh!
ingredients:
1 1/2 cups farro
3/4 cup white wine
1 medium yellow onion, diced
2 medium carrots, diced to about the size of cooked farro
2 cups chopped kale
1 8oz package of tempeh, cut into half inch cubes
3 cups chicken or vegetable broth
2 tsp dried rubbed sage (or fresh if you have it!)
4 Tbsp butter
salt & pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups grated piave cheese (or parmesan)
instructions:
bring 4 cups of water to boil in a medium saucepan, add farro, and let simmer for 10 minutes. remove from heat, strain, and set aside.
heat broth in a saucepan, bringing it just to a simmer and then keeping it warm.
while the farro is cooking, melt the butter in a large sauté pan with sides at least a few inches high. add the onion and sauté until it starts to brown.
add the slightly cooked farro, and stir until it is covered with butter. add wine and let simmer, stirring constantly until most of the wine has been absorbed. add salt, pepper, and sage.
while continuing to stir constantly, add the warm broth about one third cup at a time, not adding more until the previous addition has been completely absorbed.
once you've added about half the broth, add the carrots and continue the process.
with two additions of broth remaining, add the tempeh and continue. add the kale with the last addition of broth.
once you've added all the broth, make sure the farro is cooked through. use more broth if needed until the farro is soft. this should take about 25 minutes from the first addition of broth.
when cooked, remove from heat and stir in the cheese until melted and evenly distributed.