Pizza Farro Skillet

September 29, 2014 in Breakfast, Entrees, Recipes with: breakfast, dinner, entree, vegan, vegetarian

A comforting farro skillet flavored with all things pizza- perfect for breakfast, lunch, or dinner!

Let me introduce you to my most recent obsession: farro. Say hello to my little friend and my new favorite grain!

I have mentioned Ashley’s Cheesy Southwest Breakfast Farro and Chipotle Peach Barbecue Farro Sandwich recipes in my recent Friday Foodie Favorites posts, so if you have not already figured out that I am hooked on this new-to-me grain then you must be in another world.

After finding great success with both of Ashley’s recipes, I decided that I wanted to come up with my own farro creation. And what better way to prepare farro than to season it with the flavors of one of my favorite foods? Of course, that food would be pizza!

This vegan skillet is simple to make, warm and comforting, and flavorful and delicious. Not to toot my own horn or anything, but this kind of rocks my socks off.

Pizza Farro Skillet
Vegan

Adapted from this recipe.

Serves 4

Ingredients

water, for cooking
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1 cup pearled farro
14.5 oz can diced tomatoes with Italian Herbs
1 3/4 cup vegetable broth
1/2 cup vegan jack or mozzarella “cheese” or dairy cheese if not vegan (I used Daiya’s jack style wedge)
1/4 cup pizza sauce
1 tsp Italian seasoning
2 cups fresh spinach, roughly chopped
green onions, sliced (optional)
4 large cage-free and organic eggs, fried or poached (optional) <–not vegan

Directions

1. In a large skillet, heat a thin layer of water over medium-high heat. Once hot, lower the heat to medium and add onions to the pan. Cook for approximately 6 to 8 minutes, or until softened. Add additional water, as necessary.

2. Add farro to the skillet and cook for approximately one minute.

3. Add tomatoes (with juices) and vegetable broth to the pan. Raise the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Once boiling, lower the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for approximately 35 to 40 minutes. Stir occasionally throughout the cooking process.

4. Once the large majority of the liquid is absorbed, stir in vegan or regular cheese, pizza sauce, Italian seasoning, and spinach. Cook for an additional 3 to 5 minutes, or until the spinach has wilted.

5. If desired, top each serving with sliced green onions and a fried or poached egg.

This definitely is not your traditional way of eating pizza. But when I see “pizza” as a descriptor for a recipe, I know that it has to be delicious.

We have already established that I love the fact that this recipe is centered around farro and pizza. But there are a couple additional factors that make this a great one. First, it is perfect for every meal of the day. If you throw an egg on top then it automatically screams “breakfast.” If you leave the egg off then it is perfect for lunch or dinner- though I must admit that I like keeping the egg on and eating it for “brinner.” The second super awesome thing about this recipe is how versatile it is. You can mix up the add-ins based on what your favorite pizza toppings are. I imagine that mushrooms, olives, and peppers would be amazing in this skillet.

There is nothing better than a hearty bowl of flavorful pizza-themed grains, veggies, and “cheese.” And I happen to think that the egg brings it to perfection.