Farro with walnut and arugula pesto, spring asparagus and roasted mushrooms

This is a perfect spring main course, it is somehow light and rich at the same time. This makes a party sized serving and about twice as much of the pesto than you'll need...Which is great because it will keep for a week and be great on whole wheat pasta, veggie sandwiches, you name it.

Walnut and arugula pesto

1 cup raw walnuts
1 shallot
1 clove garlic
1 tsp toasted fennel seeds
1/2 tsp toasted yellow mustard seeds
1/2 cup rinsed and dried parsely
1 tsp of whole grain mustard
2- 3 cups rinsed and dried arugula
3- 4 T apple cider vinegar
1 T lemon juice
walnut oil
salt and pepper to taste

Pulse the shallot, garlic, and fennel in a food processor. Add the walnuts and a big drizzle of walnut oil, blend until you have a thick paste. Add the mustard. Then pack in the parsely and arugula and blend, adding oil to keep it smooth until you have a fluffy, bright green paste. Add the vinegar a tablespoon at a time, pulse to incorporate and taste. Add the lemon juice and a little zest. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

Farro with walnut and arugula pesto, spring asparagus and roasted mushrooms

1- 2 lbs of assorted mushrooms, trimmed
1 lb of fresh spring asparagus
handful of chopped parsley
1/4 cup of walnut oil
1 shallot finely diced
2 cups of farro cooked in salted water and drained, reserve 1/4 cup of the cooking water

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Toss the mushrooms in the walnut oil and toss with the parsley and a couple shakes of freshly ground pepper. Do not salt them! Lay the mushrooms out on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet and roast them for 20- 30 minutes. You will know when they are done.

While the mushrooms are roasting, cook the farro. You can steam the asparagus over the boiling water.

Caramelize the shallot.

When the mushrooms, asparagus and shallot are done toss them all together and add a little salt and pepper and a squeeze of lemon.

In the warm pot, mix the pesto with the reserved cooking water and toss the warm farro in the pesto.

Pile the farro in a big bowl and top with the asparagus and mushrooms. Serve warm.