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Puerto Rican sofrito
Recaíto-style green herb, pepper, onion and garlic base with culantro and ajíes dulces, blended and frozen in cubes
Open a freezer anywhere in Puerto Rico, or in the Puerto Rican neighbourhoods of New York and Orlando, and you'll find a tub or ice-cube tray of green sofrito. It is the start of almost everything savoury on the island: beans, rice, stews, soups and sauces. Unlike the slow-cooked Spanish sofrito, this one is raw, blended from culantro (recao), cilantro, little sweet ajíes dulces, cubanelle peppers, onion and lots of garlic. It smells grassy and sharp in the jar and turns mellow and savoury as soon as it hits hot oil. Chef's tip: if you can't find ajíes dulces, use extra red pepper and a tiny piece of seeded scotch bonnet; you want their fruity perfume, not heat.
- Total time
- 20 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 16
Ingredients
Method
0/5 doneStep 1: Put 2 onions, 2 cubanelle (Italian frying) peppers, 1 red pepper and 10 ajíes dulces (sweet Caribbean peppers) into a food processor or blender. Pulse in short bursts until finely chopped and starting to release their juice.
2 minStep 2: Add 12 cloves garlic, 12 culantro (recao) leaves and 1 ⅜ oz cilantro, leaves and tender stems. Pulse again, scraping down the sides, until you have a coarse, bright green, wet paste. A common mistake is adding water to help the blades along: it waters the sofrito down and it spits in the pan. The onion's juice is enough.
3 minStep 3: Taste a little: it should be sharp with garlic and fresh with herbs. Spoon what you need for the week into a clean jar and keep it in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Step 4: Fill an ice-cube tray with the rest (each cube is about 2 tbsp), freeze until solid, then pop the cubes into a freezer bag. They keep for 3 months; drop them straight into hot oil.
10 minStep 5: To use, fry 2–4 tbsp in a little oil over a medium heat for 3–5 minutes, until the raw smell is gone and it looks glossy and soft, before adding beans, rice or tomato.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 15 kcal
- Protein
- 1 g
- Carbs
- 3 g
- Fat
- 0 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does puerto Rican sofrito take?
- About 20 minutes in total.
- How many people does it serve?
- 16 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- Can I make it ahead?
- Yes. It keeps well, so you can cook it earlier in the day or the day before and reheat it.
- What can I use instead of onions?
- 2 shallots per onion.
- What can I use instead of red pepper?
- Any colour of bell pepper, same amount.
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