Sofrito

Sofrito

This is the ultimate go to, indispensable must have recipe in every Puerto Rican household. Having said that, it is really easy to make with ingredients you can find at your market. Best part of all it freezes nicely. I will have some tips below on how you can make this work for you.

Sofrito will without a doubt change the way you cook.

Ingredients:
2 medium yellow onions, cut into large chunks
20 -25 cloves garlic, peeled
2 Cups of cilantro, washed
7 to 10 ajices dulces (see note below), optional
5 leaves of culantro otherwise known as recao (see note below), or another handful cilantro
2 large red bell pepper, cored, seeded and cut into large chunks
2 large green bell pepper, cored, seeded and cut into large chunks
½ tablespoon of Salt
¼ teaspoon of pepper

Directions:
1. Chop the onion in the bowl of a food processor until coarsely chopped.
2. While the motor is running, add the remaining ingredients one at a time and process until smooth.
3. The sofrito will keep in the refrigerator for up to 15 days.

** Ajices Dulces, are tiny sweet peppers with a hint of heat. They range in color from light to medium green and yellow to red and orange. Warning: They are not Scotch Bonnet or Habanero chilies (which they look like).
If you can find ajices dulces in your local markets, add them to sofrito. If not, you can replace with more cilantro and add a pinch of red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper. Culantro is not cilantro. It has long leaves with tapered tips and its edges are serrated. The flavor of culantro is 20X more potent than cilantro, so be careful with this addition as well. If you can’t find it, skip it.

You can freeze sofrito in ½ cup batches in sealable plastic bags. They come in extremely handy in a pinch. You can even add sofrito straight from the freezer to the pan in any recipe that calls for it and most of mine will.