Lemon Farro "Risotto"

I've made a few dishes over the last month that will become staples, so want to get them down here. This is the first of three. Recently I wanted to make a lemon risotto as a side dish, to have something simple that didn't require a lot of chopping. I had everything prepped and ready to go in the pot when I realized I was out of arborio rice. Since I am all about farrow this winter, I had been wanting to try making a risotto with it. This wasn't necessarily the best time to experiment since I had a friend on the way over for dinner, but it was the easiest alternative given I already had a risotto in the works. I was using the method I have posted about earlier where you start the risotto on the stove and then bake it in the oven.

I initially thought this would require more liquid than the arborio rice, but it turns out it doesn't. I ended up having to drain it a bit the first time. I made it a second time using the normal amount of stock and it was perfect. If you eat seafood, this goes really well as a side dish for pan seared scallops.

Baked Lemon Farro "Risotto"
1 cup farro
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium shallots, chopped small
2 1/4 cups stock (I use a vegetarian bouillon cube in water)
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 2 pieces
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley

1. Put the farro in a bowl, cover it in water and set it aside to soak.
2. Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.
3. In a small saucepan, bring the stock to a low simmer.
4. Place a heavy botton 3 qt pot with an oven safe lid on the stovetop and set it on medium low heat.
5. Drain the farro. Raise the heat to medium and add the farro to the shallots. Cook stirring constantly for about 2 minutes.
6. Add the wine and stir constantly until it's absorbed, about 2-3 minutes.
7. Add the warmed stock and stir well. Once it comes to a simmer, cover it and immediately transfer it to the oven. Cook for 18 minutes.
8. Remove the risotto, uncover USING AN OVEN MITT and taste. Depending on your preference and how al dente or liquid you like it, you can mess around with it here. If you want to cook it more on the stove top, add more stock (or water if you ran out) over medium heat, stirring constantly until you like the consistency.
9. Stir in cheese and butter.
10. Stir in lemon juice, lemon peel and parsley. Season to taste with salt and pepper.