Time: Thirty minutes to peel the onions and 45 minutes to cook the farro.
If you review internet recipe ingredients for creamed pearl onions, you might feel compelled to clean the spill on aisle four, in other words, the mess in the frozen foods section of your grocery store. And when a recipe starts with "a bag of frozen pearl onions," there really should be a transformative culinary trick that makes the dish memorable, as well as convenient. Culinary wishful thinking, of course. Our rule, "Take no shortcuts when preparing a special meal."
In this case we resolved to move fresh, hand-peeled pearl onions from the fringes of a meal to a more prominent position on the plate. The side dish that evolved combines Anson Mills farro piccolo cooked in homemade beef stock and port wine, with creamed pearl onions and artisanal bacon. The supporting ingredients, with their bright and dark contrasting flavors and texture—the explosive pop of farro, the flavor dimension of rich beef stock, and bacon's crisp smoke and fat—work beautifully with the sweetness of the onions and suaveness of the cream. This might be our favorite dish using farro to date, an outstanding accompaniment to holiday classics like standing rib and crown rack roasts. It makes a couple of grilled steaks very happy as well.
Equipment Mise en Place
For this recipe you will need a heavy-bottomed 9 or 10-inch sauteuse or deep sauté pan; a slotted spoon; a sharp paring knife; 2 medium saucepans; a sheet pan; a wooden spoon; and a fine conical sieve
Ingredients
18 ounces red or white pearl onions, the smallest you can find
2 ½ cups Good Old Fashioned Beef Stock
3 tablespoons port wine
Fine sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 cup (7 ounces) Anson Mills Farro Piccolo
2 cups heavy cream
1 whole clove or a pinch dried cloves
3 ounces good smoked bacon, thickly sliced
½ teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Directions
1. Blanch and peel the onions: Fill a deep 9-inch sauté pan or sauteuse with water and bring it to a boil over high heat. Turn the onions into the boiling water, stirring to move them about. After 30 seconds transfer the onions to a bowl of cold water with a slotted spoon. When they are cool, transfer them to a paper towel-lined sheet pan to dry. Peel them using a small, sharp paring knife. There will be a pound of peeled onions. Set them aside.
2. Place 2 cups of beef broth, the port, ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon of pepper in a heavy-bottomed, medium-sized saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Stir in the farro. Cover the pan and reduce the heat to low. Simmer very gently until the farro absorbs the liquid and is tender, but not mushy, about 45 minutes. Do not allow the farro to boil vigorously or it will become tough! Pull the saucepan off the heat when the farro is done and set it aside.
3. While the farro is cooking, combine the cream, the remaining beef stock, and the clove in another heavy-bottomed, medium-sized saucepan and bring to a simmer over low heat. Reduce it by half. Pull the saucepan off the heat and set it aside.
4. Heat the oven to 200 degrees. Place the bacon in a 9- or 10-inch sauteuse or deep sauté pan, and cook it over low heat until the bacon renders its fat and becomes crisp, about 10 minutes. Transfer the bacon to paper towels to drain. Break it into pieces when it is cool enough to handle, then transfer the bacon to the oven to remain crisp. Pour off all but a teaspoon of fat from the pan. Add the onions to the pan and brown them over medium-high heat, shaking the pan regularly to allow the onions to roll across the bottom of the pan and take color, about 10 minutes. As they are browning sprinkle them with the sugar, ½ teaspoon of salt, and ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper.
5. Pour the reduced cream over the onions and bring it to a simmer over medium heat. Cook the onions gently in the cream until they are tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer the onions to a warm mixing bowl and cover loosely with foil. Boil the cream over high heat until it is thick enough to coat the onions lightly. Taste for seasoning, then strain the cream over the onions. Sprinkle with parsley and toss with a spoon.
6. To serve: Warm a shallow serving bowl and spoon the farro into it. Arrange the onions on the top and sprinkle with bacon.
Serves 6 to 8
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