08/18/2017
Today’s recipe post: Homemade Puerto Rican Sofrito. Sofrito is a base of vegetable used in many Latino households, but made differently depending where you’re from. You can always add or remove things from it, but the main objective of Sofrito is to make your dish taste amazing. We use this sofrito for basically every Latin dish we make. From yellow rice to pork, steaks and chicken, soups and sancocho. We even add it to white rice and pasta dishes. It’s great as a marinade as well.
You’ll need:
1 Green pepper
1 Red pepper
1 Yellow pepper
1 Orange pepper
1 Cubanelle pepper
1 Large Yellow onion
1 Large White onion
1 Large Red onion
2 Bunches of Cilantro
2 Bunches of Culantro, aka Recao or Coriander
3-4 Bulbs of Garlic
10-15 Small Ajíces Dulce pepper, aka Sweet Perennial pepper
1/2 cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 cup of Water
1 Blender or Food Processor, preferably with a glass or metal pitcher
2 Large bowl, preferably glass or metal.
2-4 Ice Cub tray
1 Saran Wrap roll
1-2 Large freezer bag
Directions:
1. Wash and chop all vegetables, including the leafy greens.
2. Place all chopped vegetables and leafy greens into a large bowl.
3. Peel garlic bulbs and place into the same bowl used above.
4. Grab a handful of vegetables and place into your blender.
5. Add a tablespoon of water and oil into the blender.
6. Blend the vegetables and leafy greens until it turns into either a thick soupy or thick salsa-like consistency. We happen to like our Sofrito in the latter manner, as it adds color to many of our dishes.
7. Place blended mixture into another bowl.
8. Continue steps 4-7 until all the vegetables, leafy greens, oil and water have been used up.
9. You may add salt to your Sofrito, but remember that you did so when you cook with it, to avoid over salting your food.
10. Place a tablespoon of the mixture into each ice cube compartment in the ice cube tray.
11. Once all your ice cube trays are filled, use Saran Wrap and cover the ice cube tray and place in the freezer until frozen.
12. Remove frozen cubes from the ice cube trays and place them in a freezer bag. This method lets you enjoy your homemade Sofrito for a very long time.
Some people like to add other vegetables such as tomatoes, chili peppers and fresh basil to their Sofrito, and that’s perfectly fine. We always recommend to make our recipes your own.
We also suggest you buy ice cube trays that you will specifically use for the Sofrito, as plastic tends to absorb the scent of all the ingredients.
And that’s it! Pretty simple. The end results will amaze you. Tell us how it came out in the comment section below.
