ponle sofrito, mamá

I'm a bit behind because I took the word "holidays" literally, but here I am, keeping my promise. Below is the sofrito recipe I came up with after tinkering with several different ones. Sofrito is commonly used in traditional Puerto Rican recipes for sopas, sancochos, asopaos, and beans. It is what gives these dishes their distinct, "bright" flavor. It also makes this flavor easy to achieve. Preparation of sofrito might take a long time, but once you start cooking with this base, you will find it very easy to create full-bodied soups and stews. I will post a recipe for the stew I made tonight soon.

Be aware that one key sofrito ingredient, recao or recaito (or culantro), can be hard to find in many parts of the U.S., so if you intend to use it, you might need to scour your local Latin American food shops or order it online ahead of time. Alternatively, you can try increasing the amount of cilantro you use. And remember: do not expect sofrito to look or taste good on its own! As mentioned above, it is merely a foundation for other recipes. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

3 large green bell peppers
2 large red bell peppers
1 1/2 to 2 heads of garlic
3 large onions
1 ½ to 2 bunches of cilantro
2 oz extra virgin olive oil
5 ajíes dulces (small, sweet cooking peppers)
30 leaves recao (or sub 1 tsp ground coriander or extra cilantro)

Preparation:

Chop ingredients to ease use of food processor. Puree all ingredients together in a food processor. Store mixture in refrigerator overnight to let flavors mix. Pour mixture into ice cube trays and freeze. Use 1 or 2 cubes in soups, asopaos, and beans.

N.B. You can set aside a small amount of sofrito at a time to keep in the refrigerator if you plan to use it all within a few weeks (rather than using the mixture straight from the freezer). I find that this enhances the flavor.