Bring Us Some Figgy Farro...what?

Yes, I had heard of farro before, but I always thought, "It has to taste pretty much like barley," so I never really bothered with it. But hey, Costco, had a giant bag of it for, like, practically nothing, so, as my Dad would say in his thick Greek accent, "There you go." It's actually pretty good, and tastes better than pearled barley.

Ingredients:
1 cup "ferro perlato"
3 cups water or stock
salt and pepper
 2 cloves of garlic
1 slice of thick bacon, diced (if you don't want meat in this, use a smoky flavored salt)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
1/3 cup dried mission figs, chopped
4-5 large fresh sage leaves, chopped
2-3 sprigs of fresh thyme, chopped
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 fresh lemon
2 tablespoons fig balsamic vinegar
truffle oil, if you're feeling crazy

Bring three cups of generously salted water to a boil. Add the two garlic cloves and cup of farro, turn the heat down to medium, partially cover and cook for 30-45 minues or untill the farro is soft and edible. Drain the farro and discard garlic, or chop the garlic finely and throw it in if you can't bear to throw it out.

In a large non stick pan, cook the chopped onion in the olive oil for 15-20 minutes, adding the salt and pepper to it and stirring frequently. If the edges start to brown, you can add a little water or white wine to the pan to keep the onion soft. After the 15+ minutes are up, add the chopped herbs, bacon, walnuts and figs and cook for another 3-4 minutes, or until the bacon looks cooked. Add the cooked farro to the pan and stir to coat.

Before serving, taste for salt and pepper, then add the lemon juice and vinegar and stir. This is where you can drizzle some truffle oil in sparingly.
Serves two, or one piggy like me. I suggest a fruity Pinot noir with it.