As I wrote other times I really like legumes and cereals and I use them often, and this is a nice cold recipe which is simply perfect in summer, especially now that we have a lot of cherry tomatoes continuously growing in our garden 🙂

It’s really easy and you don’t need many things. If you don’t use the anchovy fillets it’s also a vegetarian/vegan recipe, but I like to use it because the anchovy is a very nice contrast with the sweetness of the cherry tomatoes. The anchovies kept in salt are good, but if you have fresh anchovies it’s even better: you just have to marinate them in extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice (or vinegar if you prefer), and they are amazing. Tomato, basil (or mint) and fresh anchovies it’s a perfect match that I discovered in Sicily.

INGREDIENTS (2 people):

• 160 g pearled farro
• 150 g cherry tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons of Taggiasche/Cailletier olives
• 6-8 anchovies (fresh or salt-cured)
• 1 clove of garlic
• fresh basil
• extra virgin olive oil, a generous amount
• freshly ground black pepper
• salt

1. First of all we prepare the sauce. Cut the cherry tomatoes in half or quarters, put in a bowl and add some fresh basil leaves, the clove of garlic (hit it with the blade of a knife, we’ll remove it later, it just has to release its aroma), some black pepper and a generous amount of good extra virgin olive oil. I suggest to let it rest for at least 30 minutes or more, so the flavors combine together.
2. Take a pot, fill it with cold water and add the farro. Bring it to boil and from that moment count 15-20 minutes (try the farro to see when it’s ready). While boiling remove the foam that will appear on the surface. Add the salt only in the last minutes boiling.
3. Drain the farro, wash it and cool it down under running water, drain again and then put it in the bowl with the tomatoes.
4. Add the taggiasche/cailletier olives, season with some more salt, if needed add more extra virgin olive oil. Remove the clove of garlic.
5. Serve it and add on the top the anchovy fillets. I used fillets kept in salt, so I previously remove the salt and then I removed also the central bone.
6. Enjoy 🙂

PS: you could try also with mint if you would like something different, but it’s good also with other fresh herbs from the garden (thyme, marjoram).