Do you like experimenting with new ingredients in the kitchen? What’s the most recent new-to-you ingredient that you’ve tried? For me, it’s farro! I had used it once before for a recipe I developed for Food and Nutrition Magazine, but realized that I had never shared anything with it on the blog. Plus, I wanted to play with this yummy grain again.
Last weekend was bitter cold here in Chicago, so soup was on my mind. Luckily, farro works very well in soup! For those who aren’t familiar with it, farro is an ancient grain in the wheat family and very similar to barley when cooked. I loved the chewy texture that it added to this soup. You can find it in the bulk bins or the baking/grain aisle.
Don’t you just want to curl up on the couch with a bowl of this Italian farro soup? I do! Unfortunately, I’ve already eaten all the leftovers… The recipe for this soup is actually vegan, but I made it non-vegan by topping with cheese and serving with buttered toast – which I highly recommend!
Did you make a pot of this soup? Take a pick and tag me on Instagram! I love seeing what you are cooking up.
Looking for even more healthy vegan soup recipes developed by a plant-based dietitian? Be sure to check out my roundup of 15+ healthy vegan soup recipes!
More Soup Recipes You’ll Love
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Italian Farro Soup
Ingredients
- 1 small head garlic
- 2 tablespoons olive oil divided
For the Farro
- 1 cup farro
- 2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
For the Soup
- 1 medium yellow onion chopped
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 15 oz. cans fire roasted diced tomatoes
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 1 dried bay leaf
- 2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1 15 oz. can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 3 cups chopped kale
- Salt and ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
Roast the Garlic
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Peel off the outermost layers of the papery skin on the garlic (but leave the cloves still intact.) Cut off 1/4 inch of the bottom of the head of garlic, exposing the ends of some of the garlic cloves. Place cut side up on a square of aluminum foil. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and wrap up in the foil. Bake for 40 minutes. Once cool enough to handle, squeeze the garlic out of the papery skin. Finely chop the roasted cloves or press through a garlic press to use in the soup.
Make the Farro
- While the garlic is roasting, bring the farro and 2 1/2 cups of vegetable broth to a simmer in a medium saucepan. Cover and simmer for ~30 minutes or until the broth is absorbed and farro is chewy, but slightly underdone.
Make the Soup
- In a large stockpot, heat the other 1 tablespoon of olive oil and add the onion. Sauté for ~5 minutes or until onion is translucent. Stir in the roasted garlic and tomato paste.
- Add the diced tomatoes, cooked farro, broth, bay leaf, oregano, and parsley. Bring to a simmer and stir. Once simmering, add the chickpeas and kale and continue to simmer for 10-15 minutes or until kale has wilted and soup is hot.
- Season with salt and pepper and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
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Comments & Reviews
this soup looks so good but I cannot eat chickpeas—what else could I use?
Hi Cindy! You can simply leave the chickpeas out OR you could replace them with another type of bean like white beans if you can eat those. You could also use a vegan sausage instead of chickpeas for some protein – that might be tasty!
I love farro! My Mom made a super awesome faro and kale salad over the holiday and I’m hooked. xo Dianna
This sounds wonderful and so comforting! I love how easy it is to make – just my style! I need to get some farro :-).
Thanks! You should totally pick up some farro and give it a try. 🙂