Raise your hand if you hate doing dishes! I certainly do. Quarantine life has all of us cooking more than we usually would and it feels like the dishes are NEVER ENDING. This is why I love recipes that can be made in one pot.
While I’m quarantining, I find myself reading through all of my favorite cookbooks and trying out dishes that catch my eye. This week, I was looking through the cookbook of a good friend of mine, Ellie Krieger, and a recipe for a one-pot Chickpea and Farro stew caught my eye. It felt like the perfect excuse to use up the ingredients in my pantry while staying in vegetarian mode!
Back in December, I wrote a holiday gift guide to my top cookbook picks for the cook in your life. Ellie’s book, “Whole in One: Complete, Healthy Meals in a Single Pot, Sheet Pan, or Skillet” was one of those top five picks. This book is awesome when you’re in a no-fuss cooking mood and you want something healthy and comforting. Ellie is in Les Dames d’Escoffier with me and I have so much respect for her and everything she’s doing in the nutrition space. And I’ve always loved her show on the Food Channel.
Now, back to the recipe, for this Chickpea and Farro stew, I used quinoa and kale and I added one cup extra of broth. I ended up having this stew for lunch three days in a row with a poached egg on top! It was that good! It also holds up really well in the fridge or freezer. I would honestly eat this every day! Delicious, healthy and, easy clean up? It doesn’t get too much better than this.
Ingredients
- 3 cups cooked chick peas, low-sodium, drained and rinsed if canned, divided
- 3 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth, divided
- 2 tablespoons Olive oil
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 medium carrot, diced
- 1 stalk celery, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 14.5-ounce can of no-salt added diced tomatoes
- 1 sprig rosemary
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
- 1/2 cup pearled farro
- 2 cups lightly packed baby spinach leaves, coarsely chopped
- 1/3 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Place 1 cup of the chick peas and ½ cup of the broth into a blender and puree until smooth.
- Heat the oil in a medium soup pot over a medium heat. Add the onion, carrot and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, but not browned, 6-8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook one minute more.
- Add the remaining 2 cups of chickpeas, remaining 3 cups of broth, the tomatoes, rosemary, salt and pepper to the pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes. Add the farro, return to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the farro is tender, about 20 minutes.
- Remove the rosemary sprig. Add the chickpea puree, then stir in the spinach and cook until it is just wilted, 1-2 minutes. Serve garnished with the cheese.
I hope you love this recipe as much as I do! In the meantime, It’s really important that we do what we can to support our friends in the restaurant and catering industry. One of my colleagues Carla Ruben’s company, Creative Edge Parties has a site where you can donate and get a meal delivered for you and your family at the same time you can donate meals to our healthcare workers. They are truly our heroes.
Food delivery companies like Grubhub have created a platform where you can pay it forward and buy a gift card to support your favorite restaurants. There are also resources for people who work in the restaurant industry, like One Fair Wage Emergency Fund, who are out of a job during this pandemic. This is a hard time for all of us but it’s also a chance for us to come together, especially New Yorkers, and support each other.
Thank you for always taking the time to read along. I hope to hear from you in the comments section! Stay safe out there, folks, and keep cooking!
XO,
Pamela
