Farro and Cauliflower Parmesan Recipe (2024)

I would respectfully like to differ with the poster who asked that reviews not include substitutions. As a vegan I find these incredibly helpful, and I think others with different dietary habits or restrictions would agree. If the recipe is good when followed exactly, that will be reflected in most of the comments. A few comments discussing successful or unsuccessful adaptations only make the dish more inclusive and versatile.

This was a hit with my vegan friends. For added richness I used a 50/50 mix of vegetable stock and white vermouth instead of water the second time I cooked this. It made a HUGE flavor difference.

Made this almost exactly as written and it was delicious. Only change was mixing in some baby spinach just before adding topping and broiling.I'm trying to use less foil, so instead of foil I put a sheet pan on top of the pan and weighted it down with a cast iron pan. Worked perfectly.

Trader Joe's quick farro, little blue bag. Really good.

Made this tonight. Was tasty, but the cauliflower was a bit overwhelmed by all the farro and sauce. Next time I will increase the cauliflower by about 50% Putting it under the broiler had the.panko topping almost burn without the mozzarella melting adequately ( and yes it was fresh mozzarella ). Next time after removing the foil I would leave oven at 425 and just turn on convection and leae for 5-10 minutes for adequate browning and melting

Totally delicious! I made this with whole, unpearled farro so I parboiled it for about 15 minutes before proceeding with the recipe, and then added a touch less water in the casserole. I also just crushed up a 28 oz can of whole tomatoes instead of using jarred sauce. I liked how this was almost a pantry recipe - I always have tomatoes, cheese, and farro around. Can't recommend this recipe enough!

@Beth: so agree on the foil. It seems to be used without thought and even profligately, even by people who seem so green-conscious. Sometimes nothing else will work but, like your solution, there are often alternatives. Ditto for single use plastic products.

I wonder why sugar is even necessary. Jarred "good-quality" marinara sauce means 'no sugar added' in my book. Adding sugar doesn't seem to make good sense.

I left out the sugar, didn’t miss it.

Easy enough to vegan-ize this: Nooch or any vegan Parm, Miyoko’s Mozz

Phenomenal dish, with great texture! I found the ratio of farro to cauliflower to be a bit high, so recommend adding more cauliflower to the dish. I soaked the pearled farro for 20 minutes before mixing in and that was good to do, as it would have taken longer to cook to a chewy texture if I had not - and the cauliflower was well-done by that point. Be careful not to add too much liquid too early. Just watch it. Also watch it under the broiler, as the panko can burn quickly.

We added onion, mushrooms, a bit more balsamic, shredded mozzarella instead of pucks and more spice to the seasoning. We also added meatballs and a garnish of fresh basil and the end result was absolutely delicious. Everyone at our table gave it five stars.

I agree. The substitutions show how versatile the recipe is and how and where one could swap or utilize existing ingredients.

You can substitute anything you'd like: there are no rules here. But yes, as you could look up on Google, wheat berries are similar to farro.

I made this with Rao’s sauce, the listed amount of salt, and a handful of olives. I have a salty palate and this was extremely salty. Other than that, we all thought it was very good and it’s so nice how easily it comes together. I did not soak my farro beforehand. At 40 minutes, it was still a bit crunchy, I recovered it and baked for another 10 and it was perfect. Turned off the oven and let the residual heat melt the mozzarella and crisp the panko. Will make again.

This was easy, delicious and nutritious! I always soak farro to reduce cooking time, and used miso broth instead of water. My large jar of marinara sauce was just shy of 32 oz, and next time I would add an additional 14 oz tin of diced tomatoes. Also threw in a tin of chickpeas for protein and a bunch of chopped spinach. Needed a large roasting pan as it didn't all fit in the 9x13. Definitely a keeper!

I have made this many times, following the directions exactly as written with one exception. I use green olives. We really love this dish in our house. Rao’s sells a 32 oz. jar of marinara sauce at our grocery store in Chicago. It’s easy to toss all the ingredients together in the baking dish and slide it into the oven.

This in our monthly rotation for meal prep. Easy and delicious. Only recommendation is to use small Mozz balls instead of large slices. The large slices tend to come out as one large chunk you have to eat at once (not the worst problem to have).

Delicious! I took a lot of the suggestions: swapped the water for stock/vermouth; added 2 cups matchstick carrots and a couple bunches of torn spinach leaves. Omitted the sugar and olives and took the salt down to 1tsp since the stock has a lot of sodium. Used barley instead of farro because that's what was on hand. At 40 minutes I had soup but after the foil came off it cooked pretty well, though did take longer than the 55 minutes in the recipe (more like an hour 20). Used broiler- no issues.

The vote here was to loose the olives next time… but delicious.

I use half cauliflower and half broccoli raab when I make this and love the contrast of flavors.

I thought I'd try this recipe with broccoli rabe as suggested, but it turned out to be a watery mess, and in hindsight, perhaps I should have blanched the broccoli rabe first and will do so next time. It's also worthwhile to invest in a good mozzarella, which I will also do next time: even though I thought I had, my supermarket mozzarella still turned out rubbery--perhaps ricotta might be a viable alternative.

I think the next time I make this recipe, I will replace the mozzarella with Gruyere.

This is a wonderfully warming cold-weather dish to make, and I'm eager to try it with broccoli rabe as suggested. I used sherry vinegar and tore the mozzarella rather than slice it for a more palatable texture. Very easy and basically cooks itself after you chop the cauliflower. Also eager to try different sauces, and the sauce really does make all the difference--it plays a key role in this dish.

A good quality jarred sauce is key, or better yet - a homemade sauce. For me the sauce that I used had, as expected from a jarred sauce, a sharp over-cooked tomato flavour. Nonetheless, a tasty, hearty, and very easy weeknight supper.

This is one of my fave NYT recipes and it’s in my regular dinner rotation. It never fails. However, I always make three consistent alterations: 1) I brown a package of sweet Italian sausage and add it to the mixture pre-bake. 2) I add an additional head of cauliflower 3) More a recommendation than an alteration: I always use Rao’s marinara. The best. Also, this lasts for days, a great leftover dish.

Delicious! The key to getting the right consistency for the farro is to rinse or soak it first. I followed the recipe as written, with the exception of putting it under the broiler. Instead, I added the panko and cheese once the foil was removed, and continued cooking for the prescribed 15 minutes. Both cheese and panko were nicely browned. The farro was the perfect consistency. Everyone loved it.

This was so good! I mixed in some chopped Tuscan kale right into the pan. Also delicious as a leftover.

As written, my household found this to be bland. Some suggestions that might liven this up are using stock instead of water, more herbs and spices, using more sauce than called for, adding other ingredients like mushrooms, red peppers or eggplant.For the leftovers I added more sauce over top before reheating. I didn't find that reheating in the oven made it any more interesting than reheating it in the microwave. I doubt I will make this again.

Easy and delicious. Highly recommend!