My three daughters are on a continuous culinary exploration during this pandemic. They are cooking beans from scratch, making rice pilafs with herbs, baking challah and carrot cakes and generally flexing their cooking muscles. What can I say? I am a very happy mamma! It is very rewarding to observe how they express creativity in the kitchen and their love of sharing flavorful, beautiful and healthy food with their circle.

My daughter, Orielle, LOVES farro. So, this fall, as we look towards Thanksgiving, I decided to experiment with this ancient, nutritious grain that is gaining popularity. Farro is a type of wheat that originated in the fertile crescent and was even found in tombs of Egyptian kings! It is prized in the Middle east and in Italian cooking as well. It can be tricky to prepare, depending on the type you actually purchase. The whole grain can take up to 1-1.5 hours to cook! However, if you purchase the semi-pearled (semiperlato in Italy), your cooking time is down to 30 minutes. With its nutty flavor and chewy texture, farro is the perfect canvas to many flavors.

This Thanksgiving, instead of your rich and heavy mashed potatoes try this Butternut Squash - Farro Pilaf, with its sweet notes of roasted squash and maple syrup and the tang of sherry vinegar and crumbled cheese. Perhaps then you will not suffer the post turkey coma…

For more on farro:

Farro: An Ancient And Complicated Grain Worth Figuring Out

What is Farro?

Where to get Farro?

Butternut Squash - Farro Pilaf