Recipe: Farro Stone Fruit Salad with Marcona Almonds, Goat Cheese, Fennel, and Fresh Mint
You’ll only need 10 minutes to prepare this summertime salad from Archery Summit’s recipe archives, which features ripe fruit, Marcona almonds, fresh herbs, and cheese. Cook it for another 40 minutes and serve alongside a glass of Dundee Hills Pinot Noir. This recipe will serve 6 as a side dish or 3 as a main.
View full recipe from Archery Summit here.
Ingredients:
- 1 1/3 cup farro
- 3/4 teaspoons salt
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/3 cup Sherry vinegar
- 1 shallot, minced
- Flake sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 cups mixed stone fruit, peaches, nectarines, plums, apricots, and/or cherries, sliced into wedges
- 1 bulb fennel, thinly sliced
- 1/3 cup salted, roasted Marcona almonds
- 2 ounces crumbled goat cheese or feta
- 1/3 cup fresh mint leaves, torn or left whole if small
Instructions:
- In a large pot, bring water to a boil. Add farro and salt, reduce heat to medium, and simmer. Cook until the farro is chewy and tender – about 20 – 40 minutes. When cooked, drain and set aside.
- Meanwhile, whisk together olive oil, sherry vinegar and shallot in a large mixing bowl. Add salt and black pepper to the dressing, to taste. Remove two tablespoons of dressing and set aside, leaving the bulk of the dressing in the bottom of the mixing bowl. Transfer just-cooked, warm farro to the mixing bowl. Stir so that the farro soaks up the dressing.
- Arrange farro, stone fruit wedges, and fennel slices on a lovely serving platter. Scatter Marcona almonds, goat cheese and mint over the top. Drizzle the remaining 2 tablespoons of dressing over the salad. Season with additional sea salt and black pepper to taste.
Wine Pairings:
Wine characteristics – Clean, fresh flavors are critical when pairing wine with salads of any style and weight. The wine must be fermented dry, devoid of any noticeable oak influence, and feature crisp minerality with delicate fruit nuances. Typically, this would lead toward an ‘alternative white’ range of wines, and the Willamette Valley has some delicious options to choose from.
- 2023 DePonte Melon de Bourgogne – Originating from the Loire region in France, Melon de Bourgogne (boor-gon-nyuh) from DePonte Cellars offers refreshing, crisp citrus aromas, a hint of peach, and a touch of saline minerality that brings persistence and tension to the palate. While it’s a classic choice for seafood, it pairs beautifully with the fresh herbs in this salad, balancing the richness of the goat cheese with effortless elegance. This combination will awaken your taste buds, setting the stage for the next course.
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2022 Nicolas-Jay Estate L’Alliance Blanc – L’Alliance [lay-ly-uhns] is a two-barrel blend of Pinot Gris and Chardonnay from the Nicolas-Jay estate vineyard, Bishop Creek, in the Yamhill-Carlton district. This wine showcases delicate aromas of white peach blossom, Honeycrisp apples, and a touch of fresh rain salinity that bursts from the glass. Its vibrant bouquet is ideal for pairing with this diverse salad. The flavors deepen on the palate, starting with a refreshing Pomelo grapefruit note that yields a subtle, Turkish candy-like texture.
