Farrotto with Guanciale, Brussels Sprouts and Butternut Squash

One night in Dallas while I was home visiting family for Christmas I was lucky enough to spend an evening with my brothers and their wives at Lucia. For those of you unaware of Lucia, it is an Italian restaurant located in the Oak Cliff neighborhood. They make their own charcuterie, pasta, bread and other menu items from scratch which makes getting a resy nearly impossible and their reputation for quality food well deserved.

On the night we were there the menu had a Farrotto with bacon, Brussels sprouts and butternut squash on the menu. It was one of the best things we had and we ordered a pretty decent percentage of the menu. It was so good I have been wanting to try to make it for myself. Nearly a month later I did it. It’s not the same, but it’s close.

Overall this dish is easy to make with a lot of passive cooking time. All in, expect it to take 30-45 minutes to make. Also, all of the ingredients are pretty easy to find in a typical supermarket. However, if guanciale is difficult to find, use bacon.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups of whole farro

• 7 cups of chicken or seafood stock

• 3/4 - 1 cup of white wine

• 2 finely diced shallots

• 4 minced cloves of garlic

• 1/2 pound guanciale cut into 1/4” - 1/2” cubes

• 1 pound Brussels sprouts halved

• 1 pound cubed butternut squash

• 4 tablespoons of unsalted butter

• 1 heaping cup of finely grated Pecorino Romano cheese (you can use Parm too)

• 1/4 - 1/2 cup of minced parsley

• Juice of 1/3 of a large lemon

Method

1. In a large sauce pan, bring the stock up to a boil and reduce to a light simmer

2. While the stock is heating, prep all of the ingredients and preheat an air fryer to 400 degrees fahrenheit - if you don’t have one, you can use your oven but it will take longer

3. Heat a dutch oven over medium heat with about a tablespoon of olive oil

4. Add the guanciale to the dutch oven and cook until it is lightly crisp

5. When the guanciale is done, removed and set aside on a paper towel lined bowl

6. Add the shallots to the reserved guanciale fat in the dutch oven and cook until translucent (about 2-3 minutes)

7. Stir in the garlic and cook for 1 minute until the garlic is fragrant

8. Stir in the farro

9. Add the white wine and bring to a boil - cook for about 5 minutes to cook off the alcohol

10. Add 4 ish cups of the stock and stir well.

11. Once the stock comes to a boil, reduce to a rolling simmer and cover the pot for 30 minutes

12. Add the Brussels sprouts and squash to a medium sized bowl. Add a tablespoon of olive oil, kosher salt and black pepper. Toss to coat all of the pieces and add to the air fryer for 12 minutes

13. Do some dishes while you wait

14. When the air fryer is done, set the Brussels sprouts and butternut squash aside in a bowl

15. When the 30 minutes is up, check the farro and stir. Continue cooking and stirring until almost all of the liquid is cooked out.

16. Add the butter, parsley and cheese and quickly stir to combine to create a creamy consistency

17. Add the guanciale, Brussels sprouts, butternut squash and lemon juice - stir to combine

18. At this point, if the farrotto is too thick, add some of the reserved stock to loosen it up

19. After a few minutes remove the dutch oven from the heat, serve on high sided plates or bowls, and make a mental note to send me a thank you letter.