Recipe

Tomato & Farro Salad with Basil & Capers

Name: Tomato & Farro Salad with Basil & Capers
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 250g farro (semi-pearled works best); 600g mixed ripe tomatoes — a variety of sizes and colours if possible; 3 tbsp good extra virgin olive oil; 3 tbsp red wine vinegar; 1 tsp caster sugar; Sea salt and black pepper; 3 tbsp capers, drained (the small ones if possible); 1 small red onion, very finely sliced; Large bunch fresh basil, leaves picked; Optional: 100g mozzarella or burrata to serve

A late-summer salad built around the best tomatoes of the year — mixed varieties if possible — over warm dressed farro with capers, basil, and a dressing that is almost more vinegar than oil. Substantial enough to eat as a meal.

Serves 4

Ready in 35 min

Keeps Best eaten within 2 hours. Farro keeps 3 days fridge; dress fresh.

Level Easy

250g farro (semi-pearled works best)
600g mixed ripe tomatoes — a variety of sizes and colours if possible
3 tbsp good extra virgin olive oil
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp caster sugar
Sea salt and black pepper
3 tbsp capers, drained (the small ones if possible)
1 small red onion, very finely sliced
Large bunch fresh basil, leaves picked
Optional: 100g mozzarella or burrata to serve

Method

Bring a large pan of well-salted water to the boil. Add the farro and cook for 25–30 minutes until tender but with a distinct chewy bite remaining — farro should never be soft. Drain well and spread on a tray or leave in the colander to steam dry briefly.

While the farro cooks, prepare the tomatoes. Cut larger tomatoes into rough chunks, halve cherry tomatoes. Place everything in a wide bowl and season generously with salt. Leave for 10 minutes — the salt draws out the tomato juices, which will become the most flavourful part of the dressing.

Make the dressing. Whisk together the olive oil, red wine vinegar, sugar and a pinch of salt until combined. Taste: it should taste aggressively sharp and vinegary — this intensity is correct and necessary because it will be diluted by the starchy farro and the tomato juices. Add the capers and very finely sliced red onion.

Toss the warm, freshly drained farro with half the dressing immediately — warm farro absorbs dressing far more effectively than cold. Leave for 5 minutes to absorb.

Add the salted tomatoes along with all their accumulated juices to the dressed farro. Pour the remaining dressing over. Fold together gently — the goal is for some tomatoes to hold their shape while others break down slightly into the dressing. Season well with salt and pepper and taste.

Tear the basil and fold through gently at the last moment. Transfer to a serving dish. Add torn mozzarella or burrata if using. Eat within an hour — the salad is at its best when the farro is still slightly warm and the tomatoes haven't sat in the dressing long enough to lose their texture.

✦ Chef's note

Farro can be replaced with semi-pearled spelt or barley with similar results. If you have really excellent tomatoes, try a version with no farro at all — just the tomatoes, dressing, capers, onion and basil, which is essentially a panzanella without the bread, and let the tomatoes be entirely the point. Anchovy added to the dressing (1–2 fillets, mashed into the oil before whisking) transforms the flavour profile towards something more complex and less clearly vegetarian — worth doing if you're not cooking for vegetarians.