While working part-time at a Mexican restaurant years ago, I discovered how to cook Spanish rice. Here, rice is being replaced by the ‘ancient’ grain farro, which I find to be even simpler to prepare precisely than rice.
| Prep Time: | 10 mins |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 10 mins |
| Servings: | 6 |
| Yield: | 6 servings |
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- ½ cup finely diced onions
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt, or to taste
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 2 teaspoons ancho chile powder
- 1 teaspoon chipotle chile powder
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 cup pearled farro, rinsed, drained well
- 2 cups chicken broth
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
- Melt butter in a heavy skillet with a tight-fitting lid over medium heat. Add onions and salt; cook and stir until onions have softened up and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. Add cumin, ancho chili powder, and chipotle chili powder; cook and stir about 1 minute. Add tomato paste; cook and stir about 2 minutes over medium heat. Add oregano and drained farro. Stir until farro is completely coated with the spice/butter mixture, about 2 minutes.
- Pour in chicken broth. Raise heat to high and bring to a simmer. As soon as mixture starts to bubble, stir, and cover. Remove from heat.
- Place pan in preheated oven and bake until farro is tender, 50 to 60 minutes. Fluff grains with a fork.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 153 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 26 g |
| Cholesterol | 12 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 4 g |
| Saturated Fat | 3 g |
| Sodium | 894 mg |
| Sugars | 2 g |
| Fat | 5 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I make this all the time. It’s one of my favorite “make on the weekend” dishes for fast, flavor-bomb dinners. Yes, the amount of chipotle makes it pretty hot if that’s not your thing; just sub paprika or another milder dried pepper. Really good paired with beans. I’ve also made this with cubed and seared pork shoulder instead of farro, but somewhat less water. Braise in the oven until tender. Makes a fantastic taco filling. The flavor of the sauce is just killer.
That’s not a Spanish dish. It is a Mexican rice. The fact that both countries speak the same language doesn’t make them the same thing.
Despite the previous reviewers backing off the spices, I made it as written, and loved it. I served it with refried black beans which was the perfect combination. I liked the nutty chewiness of the farro combined with the smoothness of the beans. The hot spice flavor of the farro was tempered by the mild beans. I put the two of them together in a burrito wrap with a fried egg and cubes of sausage. Out of this world good!
I wanted a Spanish Rice dish to go with some Mexican Meatloaf Muffins and salad we were having for dinner. I didn’t have enough rice on hand but I had some 365 Organic Italian Farro from Whole Foods in my pantry. I read the reviews and decided to use 1/2 of the spices called for in the recipe. I used the entire 8.8 oz. bag of farro and instead of tomato paste I used a can of diced tomatoes (didn’t have any Rotel). Since the farro was quick cooking, I followed the recipe up until the farro was added and then followed the farro package directions to finish (which didn’t involve the oven). This was absolutely delicious and we will make this instead of rice from now on.
I layer the farro, refried beans, chicken, then cheese (like a lasagna) and bake.
Serve with seasoned refried beans and you have a great weeknight dinner. This dish is in the regular rotation for my family.
We love Mexican food and I’ve been wanting to try this after being served something similar by a caterer. I generously used a whole small can of tomato paste and smoked paprika instead of the chipotle chili powder. I also tried making it vegan, for my daughter, by using vegetable base, olive oil plant butter and added a can of black beans with the broth. I transferred the simmering mixture to a preheated casserole dish, then baked for an hour. We liked it a lot, topping it with hot sauce and scooping it with regular and lime tortilla chips. Though we did not use it, melted cheese might have been a nice addition. I would definitely make this again.
I would definitely make again, but I would cut the spices in half
Used a can of Rotel instead of tomatoes paste, and green chili powder instead of ancho. (Out of those 2 for some reason). Turned out great! Loved the texture and taste of the farro. Ready too make it again
**Please note my review is based on changes made, not as the recipe is written** Usually, Chef John’s recipes are perfect, but I have to agree that in this recipe there was too much tomato sauce and spices for the amount of Farro. It’s an easy fix, though, just double the amount of Farro and broth, and leave everything else the same. It’s delicious once the ratio is corrected. FYI, Farro is always chewy no matter how much you cook it. I didn’t like the chewiness. If I make this again, it’ll be with rice instead of Farro.
I would double the recipe and tone down the spices, which without the Ancho chili were already potent.
I cut the heat in half as I found things just a bit too spicy but otherwise love this recipe, the farro’s texture is wonderful and I love the flavors
it was delicious on it’s own but I did take liberties and used items I had to make a salad using this as a base. I added 1/2 cup red onion ,1/2 cup red bell pepper and 4 ears of “corn on the grill” recipe on site. (Amazing)
I did not care for this recipe. The spices overwhelmed all else so that all I could taste was the various chili powders. It’s not that it was too spicy – it wasn’t – but that the amount of spices called for and the amount of tomato paste was way too much for the amount of farro. I would not make this again.