A steaming bowl of nourishing soup is the perfect antidote to a hectic holiday season punctuated by social evenings and heavy meals. At this time of year, it's also a welcome and efficient way to use any leftover turkey that may be lurking in your refrigerator. If you manage to eat all the turkey (kudos to you), chicken works just as well.
And if you don't have a chicken to roast, a store-bought roasted chicken will do in a pinch. This is a simple and restorative soup. Its ease of preparation belies its inherent comfort and depth of flavor.
The broth is rich and hearty, yet the ingredients are clean and straightforward. Silky, umami-rich shiitake mushrooms impart an earthy, smoky flavor to a vegetable-studded broth swirling with nutty farro. Farro is a nutrient-dense ancient grain.
It's available in various forms, which can affect flavor and cooking time. Whole-grain farro imparts a notable earthy flavor and is the most nutritious because it hasn't been stripped of its bran. The trade-off is an exceedingly long cook time, best preceded by an overnight soak.
Semi-pearled farro is partially stripped of its bran, and thus retains some of its nutrients, fiber and flavor, while it requires about 30 minutes to cook. Pearled farro is the least nutritious, since all the bran is removed, which diminishes its flavor and can lead to mushiness when the grain is cooked. For this soup, a semi-pearled farro is ideal.
It provides flavor and heft with a satisfying chewiness to each slurpy bit.