Slow Cooker Mediterranean Chicken and Farro

This easy recipe takes the healthful bounty of the Mediterranean region and combines the ingredients in a savory way, enhanced by slow cooking. The farro—a fiber-rich ancient grain—benefits from the slow release of juices from the chicken thighs to turn the grain satisfyingly chewy. Using pearled farro, which has some of the bran removed, also aids the cooking process as normally farro should be soaked overnight. Farrow has a nutty taste with a hint of cinnamon that melds beautifully with the almonds in this dish.

Piquant flavors of lemon, capers, and olives also contribute to the complexity of the flavors and give the chicken some zing. This recipe also includes Castelvetrano olives, a bright green variety from Sicily. The meaty, mild, buttery tasting olives are popular for snacking in Italy. You can find them at your grocer’s olive bar or at specialty food shops.

After you brown the chicken, the slow cooker does most of the rest of the work. Put it on before work and dinner will be ready when you return.

Slow Cooker Mediterranean Chicken and Farro

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The aroma of this easy chicken and farro recipe will whisk you away to an Italian village where waiters in white aprons serve you with a smile. The chewy, nutty farro absorbs the flavors of the chicken juices and the tangy lemon, capers, and olives add zest. Family and company alike will clamor for this colorful, aromatic dish.

• Author: Norann Oleson
• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 7 hours
• Total Time: 7 hours 20 minutes
• Yield: Serves 4
• Category: Entrées

Ingredients

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• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 (6 ounce) chicken thighs, bone in, skin on
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• Cooking spray
• 3 cups unsalted chicken stock
• 1 cup uncooked Italian pearled farro
• 1/2 cup chopped shallots
• 10 pitted Castelvetrano olives, sliced
• 1 1/2 tablespoons drained capers
• 1/2 cup finely chopped Italian flat leaf parsley
• 1/4 cup toasted almonds, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest plus 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 garlic clove, grated
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• Fresh flat leaf parsley for garnish

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Instructions

1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Sprinkle chicken with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Cook chicken until browned, about 2 minutes per side. Set aside.
2. Coat a 5-quart slow cooker with cooking spray. Stir together stock, farro, shallots, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon black pepper in slow cooker. Top with chicken; sprinkle with olives and capers. Cover and cook on low until a thermometer inserted in chicken registers 165 degrees F, 7 to 8 hours.
3. Remove chicken from slow cooker. Add chopped parsley, almonds, lemon zest and juice, garlic, and red pepper to farro mixture; stir until creamy. Garnish servings with parsley leaves.

Did you enjoy this recipe? We think it’s a perfect ‘company’ dinner—it tastes delicious and presents beautifully, but you don’t have to spend all day in the kitchen! Please tell us what you think.