Many cuban, puertorrican and dominican dishes have this ingredient in common- sofrito. Sofrito is actually a combination of several ingredients that is used as a base in everything from soups, stews, beans to spaghetti sauce. It is very easy to make and can be prepared in advance and frozen.
Recipe for Sofrito
Ingredients:
- 2 medium sized onions
- 3-4 Spanish peppers *
- 3 cloves peeled garlic
- 4 culantro leaves (optional)**
- handful of cilantro
* Do not confuse Spanish cooking peppers with hot, chili peppers. Spanish peppers are not hot. They are light green in color and long and lean unlike bell peppers. If you do not find Spanish peppers you can substitute with 1 green bell pepper.
**Culantro is the secret ingredient of sofrito. The leaves of this herb are long and have a strong smell. Do not confuse with its cousin cilantro, whose leaves resemble parsley. Culantro is known by different names around the world. In Puerto Rico it is called recao, while in Asia it is known as Long Coriander.
Culantro grows well as a potted plant and can be kept inside for cooking.
***Ajies
Some recipes add a handful of "ajies dulces" which are very small, sweet peppers which are usually found in latin supermarkets.
Directions:
- Cut open the peppers and take out the seeds.
- Wash and chop with food processor.
- Add the other ingredients and process.
- That's it! The mixture will have a green color with the smell of the culantro and cilantro leaves. If culantro is not available, more cilantro can be added instead.
Storage
The sofrito will keep for three days in the fridge or can be frozen. Ingredients can be doubled and a bigger batch prepared. It can be frozen as ice cubes or divided in small batches among plastic zip lock bags. When needed for a recipe it can be added frozen.
Cooking with Sofrito
When cooking beans, spaghetti sauce, ground beef, soups or any stew, sautee 2-3 tbsp. of sofrito in olive oil until the pieces of onion and pepper are cooked and then add the other ingredients and continue cooking as usual. The sofrito will give it a very flavorful and unique caribbean taste.
There are plenty of recipes for sofrito, many claiming to be the best, yet the main ingredients are always the same: green peppers, onions, garlic and culantro. The quantities of these basic ingredients can be varied according to taste. Feel free to experiment and enjoy adding sofrito to any dish.
For additional information on Caribbean cuisine read Cocina Criolla by Carmen Aboy Valldejuli [Pelican, 1994]. This is the bible of the Puerto Rican kitchen.
 |
 |
 |
