WHB #116 - Creamy Farro and Chickpea Soup
Filed in archive Food Blogosphere , Recipes on January 20, 2008
Rinku from Cooking in Westchester is Weekend Herb Blogging's host this week. She has invited us into her creative and spicy kitchen in New York's Westchester County next week to view the round-up of WHB # 116.

The recipe I'm contributing is a soup that I made for an Italian dinner party with the farro that I brought back from Milan in November. If you remember, farro is an ancient wheat variety that is a traditional ingredient in Italy, mainly in Tuscany and Umbria.

This soup has a wonderful texture and very aromatic flavor due to the addition of marjoram, one of my favorite herbs. It is often mistaken for oregano, however its flavor is sweeter, rounder and more delicate. I prefer it in many dishes and cannot imagine replacing it with oregano in this soup. A small jar of marjoram will last a year and once you're seduced by its fragrance and flavor, you'll be hooked!
The recipe is adapted from Mediterranean Grains and Greens by Paula Wolfert.
Creamy Farro and Chickpea Soup
serves 4
3/4 cup dried chickpeas, soaked in water overnight
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 imported bay leaves
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for garnish
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon chopped prosciutto
1 tablespoon minced celery
3/4 cup farro or hulled barley, rinsed, then soaked in water overnight
1 quart chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
2 pinches freshly grated nutmeg
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Freshly chopped flat leaf parsley, for garnish.
1. Drain chickpeas, and place in a medium earthenware pan or saucepan. Cover with plenty of cold water, and bring to a boil. Add sea salt and bay leaves. Reduce heat, and cook, covered, until very soft, about 1 1/2 hours.
2. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, heat olive oil and gently cook onion, prosciutto and celery for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they are soft but not brown. Drain farro, and add it along with the chicken broth, marjoram and nutmeg to the onion mixture. Cook, partially covered, for about 1 hour.
3. Drain chickpeas, reserving the cooking liquid. Discard bay leaves. In a food processor, puree chickpeas with 1 cup of the reserved liquid. Add pureed chickpeas to the farro mixture; if necessary, add more of the cooking liquid from the chickpeas to achieve the consistency of a creamy soup. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. Wait 10 minutes before serving, and sprinkle each portion with chopped parsley and a drizzle of olive oil.
Permalink: WHB #116 - Creamy Farro and Chickpea Soup
Tags: farro chickpeas soup 2007 food chickpea+soup farro+chickpea creamy+farro
Vote for WHB #116 - Creamy Farro and Chickpea Soup:
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Rating: 7.25 out of 4 vote(s) cast.
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Response from:
Katie
(01/20/08 2:23pm)
Great sounding soup - with the barley (no farro) I love marjoram and grow it in my herb garden...and freeze it for winter!
Response from:
Laurie Constantino
(01/21/08 5:55am)
Thie sounds very interesting, and I love Paula Wolfort, so I'm sure it was wonderfully tasty. Great picture!
Response from:
Jennifer
(01/21/08 8:16am)
Katie, You could also use spelt (epautre), which would give a similar texture to the farro. It is a great soup! You have such an amazing looking garden. I'm not surprised that you have marjoram. I should plant some this spring.
Response from:
Jennifer
(01/21/08 8:19am)
Laurie, Yes, she's amazing, isn't she! I hope that you give it a try and enjoy it! Thanks for the nice compliment on the photo, I wish I could take credit for it. The photo I took of the finished bowl of soup was blurry, so I had to use a stock photo this time.
Response from:
Ulrike aka ostwestwind
(01/21/08 9:32am)
What an interesting sounding soup
Response from:
Kalyn
(01/21/08 9:51am)
I've been wanting to try farro. I have a new cookbook called "Whole Grains: Every Day, Every Way" and it has some intriguing recipes for it. This sounds delicious. I love the sound of the chickpeas making the base of the soup, and I have (had!) marjoram growing in my garden too. It's under the snow now, but hopefully it is still surviving.
Response from:
Shannon
(01/21/08 4:17pm)
Hello Jennifer,
In the last few months, you may remember receiving an email invitation to become a part of the Foodbuzz Featured Publisher Program. With all the recipe-writing and food photography to be completed, we know emails can easily get lost in the shuffle, so Foodbuzz would like to re-extend our offer of inviting you to be a part of our food blogger network. I would love to send you more details about the program, so if you are interested, please email me at Shannon@foodbuzz.com.
Cheers!
Shannon Eliot
Editorial Assistant, Foodbuzz.com
shannon@foodbuzz.com
In the last few months, you may remember receiving an email invitation to become a part of the Foodbuzz Featured Publisher Program. With all the recipe-writing and food photography to be completed, we know emails can easily get lost in the shuffle, so Foodbuzz would like to re-extend our offer of inviting you to be a part of our food blogger network. I would love to send you more details about the program, so if you are interested, please email me at Shannon@foodbuzz.com.
Cheers!
Shannon Eliot
Editorial Assistant, Foodbuzz.com
shannon@foodbuzz.com
Response from:
Jennifer
(01/22/08 3:09am)
Ulrike, It is really delicious! I made it for a group of eight friends and they all loved it. I hope you give it a try!
Response from:
Jennifer
(01/22/08 3:18am)
Kalyn, That sounds like an interesting book! I love grains and we eat a lot of them. As I said to Katie, if you can't find farro, you can use spelt instead.
Response from:
Jennifer
(01/22/08 3:20am)
Shannon, Thanks for the invitation. I'll send you an email!
Response from:
Riana
(01/22/08 7:58am)
i adore farro and paula wolfert is my idle! and believe it or not, i have all these ingredients even with my no food shopping challenge for the month.woohoo
Response from:
Jennifer
(01/23/08 3:08am)
Riana, Alright! I hope you love this recipe! Paula Wolfert is amazing and is always a great source for recipes.
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