Sofrito

So, I made sofrito today, and I figured it'd probably be the best recipe to kick off the blog partly because it's in the title and partly because I think my sister needs to know how easy it is to make this.

So first, a quick intro:
Sofrito is magical. It's the perfect cooking base, and I can't cook without it. There are probably a million ways to make it, but this is how I do it with the ingredients I can get here in the mountains of Costa Rica.
Many of the non-Latino people I've known have eaten this raw as a dip, but I just can't do it. I mean, I won't judge you if you do, but I kind of secretly will. It's a cooking base, y'all.

Now that you know, let's talk ingredients:

• 2 medium onions, peeled and quartered
• 1 1/2 heads of garlic, peeled
• 2-3 sweet peppers, quartered
• 2-3 bunches of recao (check a Latino or Asian grocery store if you can't find it elsewhere)
• 2-3 bunches of cilantro
• oil of your choice (vegetable, olive, soy, bacon grease - whatever)

Directions:
Throw your quartered onions into the blender. Add a little bit of oil so that they'll blend smoothly. My mom doesn't add oil, and instead uses a jar of roasted red peppers to add the necessary liquid for blending. That's probably better, but I can't get those here, so I make do.


Blend away and add your veggies in batches:

Peppers....


Garlic and greens....

Blend, blend, blend until you get something like this:


Pour the sofrito into a tupperware and store in the fridge. This particular batch made enough to fill a 2.5 cup tupperware and about half of an old butter tub (the 500g size), which means I've got some stored away in the freezer for later.
And yes, it freezes well. Really well, in fact.

You can totally tailor this to suit your own palate and the aromatics that are available in your local market. I happen to love cilantro, but you could probably leave it out, or substitute some other leafy herb (parsley, oregano, basil....). Play around with the peppers - add some different kinds and mix things up a bit (ají dulce or cubanelles or even some jalapeños, if you like it hot).
 Really, the possibilities are endless.


Once you've got this stuff in your fridge, you won't have to chop anything before cooking, just saute this mixture and you've got all the aromatics you need in the pan. Hello, convenience!