I love a good winter appetizer, and this recipe we have today fits the bill. These little dudes are our Cheesy Apple Farro Cakes. I ate a lot of these for dinner after we made them with some roasted root veg (because roasting veg is my new obsession), and it was delicious. They remind me a little of our Cheesy Quinoa Cakes we posted awhile back., so comforting and yummy, and really perfect for the change in weather. As you can see from the process photos, these savory faro cakes are really easy to make. I really appreciate it when I can make a dish with only one prep bowl. Dishes just are not my thing.
We made this recipe for McCormicks recipe program Go4Gourmet. They gave us three ingredients (apples, nutmeg, farro, chestnuts) to use in the creation of our recipe. The Cheesy Apple Farro Cakes were a perfect fit for us appetizer-loving people, but you can always put these on top of a healthy salad or with another side and have them for dinner. They re heat very well, so leftovers would be a great thing.
♥ Teri
More recipes you might like:
Cheesy Apple-Farro Cakes
INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup farro
- 3 golden delicious apples, peeled, cored, shredded (with as much liquid wrung out of the shreds as possible)
- ⅔ cup grated white cheddar
- ⅔ cup oat flour
- ½ cup chopped (roasted and peeled) chestnuts
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1 tablespoon minced thyme
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- salt and pepper to taste
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
INSTRUCTIONS
- To cook farro: Pour farro into a medium pot with 4 cups of water and bring to a boil. Sprinkle in a pinch of salt and lower the heat to simmer. Allow farro to simmer for about 30 minutes or until tender. Drain well and pour farro into a large mixing bowl. Allow farro to cool completely, about 1 hour.
- Add remaining filling ingredients to bowl and season with salt and pepper. Mix together until everything is fully incorporated. Cover and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- Form ¼ cup farro cakes with the chilled mixture.
- Pour oil into a skillet and place over medium-high heat. Add a few cakes into the skillet (making sure not to overcrowd the pan or the cakes will steam and not crisp up) and sear for 4 to 5 minutes or each side. Remove from heat and drain into a paper towels. Fry remaining cakes, season with salt and pepper and serve.
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These look great! How far in advance can you prep the cakes before frying?
These look so yummy!!! Any suggestions for a substitute for the chestnuts if I am allergic?
I have just recently started cooking with Farro. Who knew it was such darn good stuff! You can use it in sweet and savorty dishes and its so good for you. I love these little cakes, definitely will give them a try.
Thanks!
Thanks for the post. These look like a great holiday smorgasbord appetizer. Thoughts on making them vegan?
I have never cooked or had farro, but these really make me want to give it a try. They look incredible!
These are fabulous!! Loving this recipe :)
Just to be clear, the recipe calls for one cup of uncooked farro? I’m assuming that once cooked, that yields a few cups of farro. Thanks.
Yes! You should end up with about 2 1/2 cups cooked Farro
Hi Jenny, these look great! Can you recommend a flavored creme fraiche or some other topping that would go well with the cake ingredients? Cheers!
I’m pretty partial to roasted garlic, which I think would be great smashed and stirred into some creme fraiche, with a little lemon zest too!
Funny, when I was testing these the bf told me he loved them, but wish I had made a sauce to dollop on top…maybe I should listen to him more often :)
I see chestnuts in the photos but not in the recipe. How are they used? Also, how did you use the roasted root veggies?
Thanks!
I just had roasted vegetables as a side with the farro cakes.
Just curious about the oat flour – is it a preference for you? I’m assuming the recipe would work w/AP flour? Regardless, I love the pictures and the recipe sounds great!
Yes, the oat flour is my preference. I think it absorbs some of the excess liquid much better than ap flour. You can always grind up some rolled oats if you don’t have oat flour or if you go the ap flour route, I would just recommend adding an extra tablespoon or so..good luck!