Pear, Sausage, and Farro Soup

(recipe, Sophia Markoulakis)

Introduction

This soup will carry you into the fall season and beyond. It’s hearty without being heavy and has just a touch of sweetness thanks to the pears and chicken-apple sausage.

Ingredients

2 Tbsp. olive oil
⅔ cup finely chopped yellow onion (about 1 small onion)
¾ cup finely diced celery
½ lb. fresh chicken-apple sausage, casings removed
1 cup semi-pearled farro (see Note)
8 cups chicken stock
1 cup small diced red potatoes (about 2 potatoes)
1 cup small diced Comice pear, semi-firm (about 1 large pear)
4 cups chopped fresh Swiss chard (about ½ bunch)
2 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh sage leaves
½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Steps

Pour olive oil in a large stockpot and add onion and celery. Sauté for 5 minutes, or until translucent. Add sausage, breaking into bite-size pieces with a wooden spoon, and continue to sauté until sausage is lightly browned. Add farro and stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
Add potatoes and pears and continue to simmer for another 10 minutes. Add Swiss chard and sage and simmer for another 5 to 10 minutes, or until Swiss chard is tender.
Season with pepper and taste for salt (depending on the saltiness of your stock).

Note

Semi-pearled farro (available from Whole Foods, among other locations) cooks twice as fast as regular farro — about 20 minutes versus 40 or so. If you use ordinary farro (sold in bulk at many grocery stores), simmer it for about 20 minutes before draining and adding to the soup to finish cooking. Read more about pears in Sophia Markoulakis' "Pears."