Roast Breasts of Turkey could be considered that special meal just like the Sunday roast that everyone enjoys. And it’s easy to cook. You probably have all the ingredients needed in your cupboard at this very moment. Back in Spanish Harlem, our family served this dish with yellow rice. Today we’re doing it with farro, a grain popular in Italy; and which has graced our shores for sometime now. Farro is a wild cousin of wheat. If you like barley, you’ll love farro. When cooked it looks like giant puffed rice. It has a nutty flavor and slightly crunchy texture. You boil it  and then simmer just like rice, in water or broth. It takes about 20-25 minutes to cook.

Don’t wait until Sunday dinner. Try this delicious turkey rendition any time; and not just for that special occasion.   With a good red wine to match, say a Barbera, Valpolicella or Merlot, you got yourself a winner.

ROAST BREASTS OF TURKEY

Ingredients:

1 4-pound boneless turkey breast
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
½ teaspoon dried thyme
1 medium onion, peeled and cut in half
1 clove garlic, peeled
1 bay leaf
1 cup chicken broth

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
2. Rub turkey breast on all sides with oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Slice the turkey breast  so that you can create a pocket, and rub with thyme inside and out. Place turkey breast, skin side up, in a roasting pan and place onion, cut side down, around it. Add garlic and bay leaf inside the breast and place in the oven. Bake 30 minutes and cover with foil.
3. Baste and continue baking 15 minutes. Remove turkey breast from roasting pan and pour off most of the fat. Discard onion. Return turkey breast to the pan, skin side up, and pour the broth around it. Return to the oven and continue baking 10 minutes, basting. Remove from oven and cover with foil. Let stand 10 minutes before carving. Carve and serve with pan gravy.
Yield: 6 to 8 servings.