Herbed Farro "Risotto" with Mushrooms

Recently, I started to crave a specific texture (yes, weird I know), and farro came to mind. Once I saw the amazing mushrooms at my local farmers' market, some had to come home with me and, with those two ingredients in mind, a little internet research was needed to see how to best bring them together. The urge to call this a "farroto" is very strong, but someone already did that so I am stuck with Herbed Farro "Risotto" with Mushrooms as a title for this stellar. luxurious dish.

The inspiration recipe below sounds good but, since I have never been able to follow a recipe in my life, here is my version as well.

1/4 cup farro

1 1/2 cups chicken stock, vegetable stock or water

1 Tbsp dry white wine

1/2 cup chopped mushrooms

1/4 cup leek "rings" (slice your leek and then separate each piece into circles, wash well)

2 tsps chopped Italian parsley or tarragon

2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

1 Tbsp finely chopped shallot

1 bay leaf

1 Tbsp butter

1 Tbsp freshly grated Parmesan

1 Tbsp Mascarpone (optional)

Salt and black pepper to taste

Heat the stock in a small pan. Lower the heat as far as it can go.

In a separate pan, add the garlic, chopped shallot, and bay leaf to the butter and melt the butter over medium heat.

As soon as the butter has melted. turn the heat down and continue to cook, stirring constantly, until the butter is nutty and brown.

Add the mushrooms to the pan along with some salt and cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms have softened and are releasing their juices.

Add the wine and stir to combine. Cook for a minute or so to burn off the alcohol.

Stir in the farro until each grain is glistening with the buttered mushroom juices.

Stir in a quarter cup of the hot stock, lower the heat and stir to combine. Continue to stir until most of the liquid has been absorbed before adding another quarter cup and repeating the process. This is a meditative process and should not be rushed.

When one and a quarter cups of the liquid has been absorbed, taste the farro for doneness. It is a chewy grain so will retain some bite but, if it is chewy in a way that you like, you can stop there. If you would like it a little less firm, add the remaining quarter cup of liquid and repeat the process. This is also a good time to see if more salt is needed.

Remove from the heat and stir in the mascarpone, the Parmesan, and a generous amount of black pepper. Stir well until the Parmesan has completely melted into the grain and mushroom mixture.

You could add an additional sprinkling of Parmesan on top as well...

Inspiration recipe here.