french onion baked lentils and farro

This is clearly not a pasta bake, but it was supposed to be one. From November to December, I was pursued by a vision of an oozy, decadent french onion pasta bake — that is, the flavors of french onion soup applied to baked pasta with a bronzed and broiled gruyere topping. What was not to love? How could it not be delicious? But it was never right. I made it a few times and I never wanted to eat it. It was too rich and didn’t have enough to bite into, even by the intended standard of holiday indulgence. In the last round, I added cauliflower to it so it felt like more of a pasta-and-vegetable bake and I liked it even less (damp? somehow).

Then, as if a better idea fairy had been summoned from thin air, or perhaps a direct message on Instagram, an Elizabeth from Oakland, CA reached out and told me she’d made a farro and lentil bake with tons of caramelized onions for dinner the night before, told her kids it was french onion soup rice, and they devoured it. “Literally just oil (or butter), good stock, wine, onions, farro, lentils and thyme, and gruyere broiled on top,” she explained. Suddenly it was as if the sun had appeared from behind the clouds after a week of rain, or removing an entire block of lines in Tetris with a satisfying bloop sound, it was clearly, and retroactively obviously what I’d have preferred the whole time. I immediately made it too.

The melodrama ends here, phew, because I think this is perfect; it’s loose enough to suggest risotto, hearty enough to be utterly filling, and tastes so precisely like french onion soup that I’ll never get tired of it. Even cold, days later, I couldn’t stop eating the leftovers. I thought I’d run it for a final recipe of the year here, a luxurious late holiday season dinner, but I believe I took a nap instead. That brings us to today: It’s cold, rain and wind are heading in our direction, the sun is still setting before 5pm and it’s still dark when we wake, and thus I still be requiring bubbling, cozy dishes withcheese on topuntil things improve. Come join me.