Farro della Garfagnana, cannellini beans, tomatoes, celery and Tuscan herbs make a structured grain salad with true regional identity.

Italian Farro Salad | Insalata di Farro Insalata di farro is the grain salad Italy makes when the summer garden is at its loudest and the kitchen refuses to turn on the oven. Farro is the anchor: a hulled wheat with a firm, slightly chewy bite that holds its shape in a dressing instead of collapsing into paste the way softer grains do. Around it go tomatoes, zucchini, sweet pepper, olives, mozzarella and a great deal of basil, all bound by nothing more complicated than good o

Insalata di Anguria, Farro e Verdure Arrosto (Italian Watermelon, Farro and Roasted Vegetable Salad) Most summer grain salads are assembled. This one is cooked. The farro is boiled to a firm chew and dressed while still warm, the zucchini, peppers and eggplant go into a very hot oven until their edges caramelize, and only the watermelon stays raw. That contrast between roasted and raw is what separates a substantial contorno from a bowl of cold grain with things stirred into