Some of you may be looking at this green sauce and wondering "WTF is that?!" and many others may be looking at this and having a nostalgic moment, thinking of those times your grandmother's kitchen would smell so good when this hit the pan. Sofrito is a blend of easy to find vegetables that can be used as a condiment, a sauce, but we primarily use it for the base of stews or soups, rice, beans, and many other recipes. It's blended in a high powered blender and creates an aromatic green sauce that pairs perfectly with olive oil and Spanish-style tomato sauce— I can smell it now! You can read more about the history of Sofrito here. Every family does their recipe differently; some with olive oil and salt, others with water, and some add sazón for flavor and coloring. I prefer to keep this as natural as possible and only vegetables— since I'll add on different ingredients such as olive oil and salt later on during the cooking process, which allows the remaining sofrito to be untouched and can be altered when cooking other meals. Whichever way you decided to make this recipe, I know that you'll love the aromas and flavors this simple sauce brings to your dishes. Make sure to blend this up and save it in your freezer for more Puerto Rican recipes to come. You'll love it!
SOFRITO RECIPE
INGREDIENTS:
Vegan
SOFRITO REQUIREMENTS:
1 Large Red Bell Pepper
2 Large Green Bell Pepper
1-2 Bunches of Cilantro
1 Bunch of Recao or Culantro
1/2-1 Spanish or Yellow Onion
1-3 Garlic Heads
Instructions:
1. Wash and chop all vegetables into medium-sized pieces (or to size that will fit ingredients into your blender.
2. Add in your onions first and then other ingredients into the blender, as the onions release a majority of the liquid and makes it easier to blend the rest of vegetables.
3. Blend until you get a bright green looking sauce. It should be runny with some texture, but not the consistency of water.
4. Store in a glass or plastic container in the fridge for up to two weeks or freeze in a ice cube tray and then place in ziplock bag (once fully frozen) for easier cooking use that'll last much longer.
Recipe Notes:
Sofrito is used as a base for many Puerto Rican and other islands' meals. We add it to a medium-high heated pan with 1-2 tbsps of olive oil and 2 tbsps of Spanish-style tomato sauce. This gives your food a great taste!
Everyone has different ways to make this recipe. Some prefer to add salt, olive oil, sazón (which gives it color and flavor), and/or even water while blending. I prefer this method to keep it as clean and organic as possible since I can always add in other ingredients such as those listed above during the cooking process and leave the rest of the sofrito untouched for future cooking.
Freezing is the preferred method since I don't use this as often and will last longer. This isn't the most difficult recipe to make, but having it stored in the freezer ready to go is great for when you don't feel like having to clean up a green mess out of your blender.
This is used to flavor many meals such as yellow rice, vegan meats, stir-fry, stewed beans, soups, and many other recipes. Try out my Puerto Rican pastelillos recipe where we use this sofrito to add great flavor to the vegan ground "beef".