Broccoli and Farro Stew With Capers and Parsley
- Total Time
- 45 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:4 servings
- 5garlic cloves
- Heaping ½ cup chopped parsley leaves and stems
- 3tablespoons rinsed capers
- 1teaspoon red-pepper flakes
- 4tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed
- 1pound broccoli florets and thinly sliced stems
- 1yellow onion, coarsely chopped
- 1cup farro
- Salt
- 1¼cups dry white wine (or substitute with lemon, see Tip)
- 4cups vegetable stock (or chicken or beef broth)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
383 calories; 15 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 10 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 44 grams carbohydrates; 8 grams dietary fiber; 7 grams sugars; 11 grams protein; 1209 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
On a cutting board, coarsely chop the garlic. Add the parsley and capers to the garlic; chop everything together until finely chopped. (You can also pulse the mixture in the food processor, if that’s easier for you.) Transfer to a small bowl and stir in the red-pepper flakes. Reserve the cutting board without cleaning it.
- Step 2
Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high. Add a single layer of the broccoli and cook, undisturbed, until browned underneath, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to the reserved cutting board, then repeat with the remaining broccoli, adding more oil when the pot gets dry.
- Step 3
To the now-empty pot, reduce the heat to medium and add 2 tablespoons oil. Add the onion, farro and half of the parsley-caper mixture (about ¼ cup, but no need to measure). Season with salt, then stir until the farro is darker in color and the garlic is fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the wine, increase heat to medium-high and scrape up browned bits on the bottom of the pot. Simmer until the wine is reduced by half, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the stock and 2 cups of water; season lightly with salt and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer gently for 10 minutes.
- Step 4
Meanwhile, coarsely chop the broccoli until small enough to fit on your spoon. After the farro has cooked for 10 minutes, add the broccoli and simmer until the farro and broccoli are tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from heat and season to taste with salt.
- Step 5
Divide among bowls; top with the remaining parsley-caper mixture and a drizzle of olive oil. Leftovers will keep for up to 3 days, but the soup will thicken as the farro continues to drink up the broth. You can thin leftovers with more stock, but the dish is actually better warm, like porridge, or cold, as a grain salad.
Tip
- If you’d prefer not to use wine, you can mimic the brightness by finishing the soup with lemon zest and juice to taste.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
MaryBretired
Read your farro package cooking instructions. Some do say 10 minutes but many suggest longer and the differences depend on if it’s “whole”, semi pearled or pearled. Only pearled farro cooks in 10 minutes and even that you may prefer the texture cooked a little longer.
Bibi
Great recipe; simplified instructions: 1) For the paste: Chop finely the garilc, parsley and capers. Add red pepper flakes. 2) Chop broccoli in small pieces and brown in a slick of oil. Reserve. 3) In same pan toast farro, onion & salt. Add half of the paste, then wine. Cook 'til mostly absorbed, then add water and broth if using. Cook 10 minutes. 4) Add broccoli and cook low all together until fork tender, about 8-10 minutes. 5) Top with the garlic paste and a drizzle of olive oil.
Larry Horn
Looks great. I'd consider adding several anchovy fillets at the beginning (for those so inclined), letting them dissolve with the garlic before adding the parsley and capers.
Ari
Very tasty. You can save time with the broccoli by cutting it small the first time and roasting briefly on a sheet pan while prepping the other ingredients. Served with grated pecorino and olive bread - delicious!
soup lover
This was delicious and fun to make. Nota bene: it has a LOT of fiber and as such may cause digestive responses noticeable to companions. ;)
Barb
Mushy broccoli bits was not my cup of tea, so when I make it next time I will not cook the broccoli twice, but keep it separate and just mix together at the end, with the cooked farro mixture. Otherwise, flavorful and easily adaptable. I added white beans.
Karen
Wow, the farro debates! Bob’s Red Mill pearled farro is ten minutes if you soaked it overnight, 30 minutes if you didn’t. Yes, pearled means without the husk. BRM web site says they lightly scratch the farro, which sounds semi pearled. (I didn’t know farro got itchy.)
ZestZeal
Farro. I buy grain in bulk. Without a package & incomplete labels on farro dispensers, how is a customer to know which farro it is? Attn: recipe developers, please offer different cooking times for farro in its whole state. Cooking farro is tricky. Maybe it's time to develop a Guide to Cooking Whole Grains for those us who opt out of buying grains in single use plastic packaging.
Abbie
It's a mistake to put the onions in at the same time as the farro and parsley-caper mixture. I had crunchy, half-cooked onions in my finished product. You gotta sautee those babies first!
Grace
We added lentils for an extra bit of vegetarian protein and it worked great!
EvNote
Added grated lemon rind to paste and half lemon juice to stew at the very end. Served over roasted baby potatoes. Delicious!
Nancy in Queens
Beguiling recipe! Doublechecking: In your intro, I assume that "chile" refers to the red-pepper flakes?
B
Beautiful recipe! The caper-parsley-garlic mixture was delicious. We didn’t add the 2 cups of water based on some of the comments here and I don’t regret it. Used frozen broccoli that we roasted alongside vegan sausages while prepping other ingredients. I’ll definitely make again!
Adrienne
Is the farro pearled or in-pearled? The timing (and I think amount of liquid) would vary.
Carol
Made this following instructions and topped with burrata. Mine was a little more soup than stew but nonetheless delicious. Would make again but next time, I’d add the chopped up broccoli 5 minutes before the farro was done.
notes on broccoli faro (spelt) stew
Underwhelming. I followed the advice in the notes, roasting broccoli & mushrooms too. Cooked the onions first and just used the wine, not the stock. And added a home-made pepper pesto to the garlic & capers. So all in all, not really sure I followed the recipe enough to truly judge… but I won’t be re-making.
Alexis Sogl
Freekeh rice works if you don’t have farro! Delicious
Amy Christine
Adding uncooked onions to a stew is a mistake. Everything here should be cooked separately. Sauté the onion and garlic together until soft and/or caramelized - when almost done add the white wine to the onions. Cook the farro separately until almost done - add half to the onion white wine mixture until the wine reduces. Steam the broccoli and then roast in the oven with a bit of olive oil for more flavor. Chop broccoli. Put together. Chop castelvetrano olives - add to the garnish. Delicious
tara
I roasted the broccoli with some zucchini at the end and added that to the cooked farro. Also added a can of white beans. So good!
Natalie M.
Farro took much longer to cook than recipe suggested, likely because of pearled versus non pearled farro. I used tasty homemade turkey stock and really liked how it turned out.
JB
I didn’t add the water, based on comments from others and found the 4 cups of broth to be a perfect amount of liquid. I also roasted the broccoli, as someone suggested to make that process less fiddly. After tasting, I decided to add half a preserved lemon for a little bit more acidity. Would definitively do that again in the future and play with adding lentils! Love the 10 minute farro from TJ’s! We always keep it in stock.
Susan PD
I used Trader Joe's 10 Minute Farro and made it more of a pilaf-textured side dish...delish! Would be good with mushrooms added too I think. Basically used a whole package of farro, sauteed it with the onion, added the wine and then a couple cups of broth. When it was almost done, I put the broccoli and the parsley-garlic-caper mixture back on top to heat up, and it was perfect. I love TJ's 10 minute farro and am always looking for new ways to use it so this was a winner.
SB28
Made it mostly as directed, but added cannellini beans to make a complete protein. It seemed a little one-note, so I added a tablespoon of Italian herbs. I did put the broccoli in for just 5. Next time, I might throw in some sun-dried tomatoes.
Lisa
I was intrigued by this recipe upon reading it--high fiber, low saturated fat, & the promise of great flavor? Sign me up! I loved the broccoli technique right away & will definitely be doing that again, tossing it with some za'atar seasoning. While cooking the soup, I doubted it would come together, as it seemed over-salty/briny. But in the end, it was fantastic. My 9-year-old had a second helping, as did I! Served with broiled chicken, seasoned with S&P & thyme.
ernie
I did roast the broccoli in the oven bc I didn't have the patience to brown it in the pan. 10/10 delicious, my 3 yr old ate a whole bowl.
Leslie
I used whole unhulled barley groats instead of farro, and that did provide a nice "bouncy chew" as the article says. Overall, however, it was not a great dish. Just meh.
Anne
I made this with a mixture of precooked Rye Berries and farro. I also added whole button mushrooms. So delicious… day 2 is always better as the sauce thickens a bit.
Audrey Nickel
Delicious! Note to self: Next time double the parsley/garlic/caper/chile mixture because it's really yummy and people will spoon a lot of it into their servings. Also use a good white wine, because it's a major taste-maker in this (I used a buttery Sante Archangeli Chardonnay)
Angelika
The farro and liquid ratio didn't quite work for me. Ended up with too much liquid, cut up a sweet potato and threw it in to soak up some of the liquid. Very tasty otherwise, added some sauteed tofu slices to make it a full meal.
Lisa
I agree, I didn't put in all the water to get a more stew-like consistency.
BonBonBoston
Roast broccoli. Add later so not mushy. Top with pecorino. Consider adding roasted sausages. Add lemon to garlic mix.
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