Sofrito- The Sole Base for Latin Cooking

Sofrito is used in many Latin dishes, it’s a combination of peppers, bishop peppers, onion, garlic, and cilantro. It is almost used in everything from rice and meat dishes to soups and stews. If you’ve ever been to a Mexican restaurant and had green salsa, the texture is very similar but without the extra spiciness.

You can make sofrito in bulk and store it in your freezer and it will last a few months. Remember to always use the freshest ingredients that you can find. If you can’t find these ingredients at your local supermarket, go to a Spanish Market, there you will be able to find what you are looking for.

1 Medium Yellow Onion

2 Cubanelle Peppers, one red, one green or both the same color. See picture below.

5 Bishop Hat Sweet Peppers. See Picture Below

10-15 large garlic cloves

1 cup chopped cilantro, leaves and stems

Vegetable Oil

Wash peppers and remove seeds, the seeds will cause heart burn to those who suffer from it. Chop pepper in medium sizes pieces. Don't worry about cutting all the peppers the same size. Peel and chop onion in quarter size pieces. Chop cilantro, discard roots if attached, use leaves and stems (stems have the most flavor). Place cut vegetables in a large bowl. 

In a food processor, add an inch of oil, than add vegetables half way up the food processor bowl. Don't over fill. Chop until you get the texture of green salsa. Empty half of the chopped sofrito in a clean bowl, add unchopped vegetables into food processor and chop again. The reason I continue to use the same sofrito to process the unchopped vegetables is to use less oil, but if you feel that your sofrito can use more oil, by all means use a bit more, but do not go over board. After you finished processing all the sofrito, you can store it in your freezer or your refrigerator depending on how frequently you are going to use it.

You will notice that I use Cubanella Peppers (Cuban Sweet Peppers) instead of Bell Peppers because I feel that Cuban Peppers have a longer shelf life than the Bells. Bell Peppers tend to ferment more quickly and give your food a rather off taste after your sofrito is a week old.

Cubanella Sweet Peppers

 Bishop Hat Peppers (Aji Dulce)

Cilantrillo and Culantro

Garlic

Spanish Yellow Onion