Sofrito — the base of everything

Not a sauce. The secret weapon. Make a big batch and give half of it away — that is the whole tradition in one jar.

While this is not a sauce, it is the secret weapon of Puerto Rican cooking! It is an absolutely essential ingredient for many of my recipes, especially Puerto Rican beans and other Puerto Rican-influenced meals, and you'll find some of it in my various sauces. Simple to make and, oh so necessary, in my kitchen. I usually make a big batch and share it with my family. "Hey, Mom, did you make sofrito?" "Nana, I'm out of sofrito!" "Mima how do you make sofrito?" Music to my ears!

§ Ingredients

• 6 large yellow or white onions, sliced or chopped
• 3 green bell peppers
• 4 red bell peppers
• 1 cup of ajices dulce (Available at Amazon)
• 1 package of Pero sweet mini peppers
• 1 bunch of culantro or cilantro – well-rinsed
• 1 package of peeled garlic – approximately 5 ounces

§ Instructions · Let's get cooking

1. 01Rinse and seed all the peppers.
2. 02Cut peppers and onions into 1" pieces or less
3. 03Rinse the culantro or cilantro leaves
4. 04Place all the ingredients in a large bowl
5. 05Have a large pot or bowl ready to pour the pureed ingredients
6. 06Place your aromatics in a food processor, about 1 or 2 cups at a time
7. 07Puree the aromatics; once the first batch is pureed, pour it into the large bowl or pot.
8. 08Repeat this process until all the aromatics have been pureed.
9. 09Stir all the ingredients in the bowl thoroughly to make sure they have blended together well. You now have sofrito!
10. 10Ladle the sofrito into glass jars and seal tightly.
11. 11Refrigerate the sofrito; it has a good shelf life.
12. 12To freeze sofrito, utilize freezer-safe containers and thaw at room temperature prior to using in your recipes.

¡Buen provecho!