Freekeh salad with persian fetta

Name: Freekeh salad with persian fetta
Cook time: 1 h
Yield: 6
Ingredients: 60g butter; 1 stick celery, finely diced; 3 red eschallots, finely diced; 1 small garlic clove, chopped; 1 bay leaf; 200g freekeh, rinsed under cold water; 6 green onions, finely sliced; 1 cup flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped; 1/2 cup mint, roughly chopped; 100g roasted hazelnuts, skinned and roughly chopped; 100g currants; 2 lemons, juiced; 100ml extra virgin olive oil; 300g Persian feta; 

September 23, 2013

Frank Camorra's freekeh salad with hazelnuts and fetta.Marcel Aucar

easyTime:30 mins - 1 hourServes:6

Freekeh is a young roasted green wheat grain that can be bought from most Middle Eastern delis.

Ingredients

60g butter
1 stick celery, finely diced
3 red eschallots, finely diced
1 small garlic clove, chopped
1 bay leaf
200g freekeh, rinsed under cold water
6 green onions, finely sliced
1 cup flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
1/2 cup mint, roughly chopped
100g roasted hazelnuts, skinned and roughly chopped
100g currants
2 lemons, juiced
100ml extra virgin olive oil
300g Persian feta

Method

Place butter, celery, eschallots, garlic and bay leaf in a medium-sized saucepan, and sweat vegetables over a low heat for 10 minutes. Add freekeh to the pan and stir to ensure the grain is coated with butter. Add 230ml of water to the pan, bring to boil and cover with a lid.
Continue to cook on a low heat on the stovetop. Check after 12 minutes and taste a small amount - the larger the grain, the longer the cooking time. When sufficiently cooked (soft but still al dente), remove freekeh from the pan and spread out on a large plate to cool quickly without overcooking. When cold, it can be kept in an airtight container for two days.
To assemble the salad, mix green onions, chopped herbs, hazelnuts and currants with the freekah. Mix lemon juice and oil, dress the salad, crumble the feta over and serve.