Easy Sofrito Recipe

Sofrito is a seasoning blend that, according to recipe developer Christina Musgrave, "is the base of many Latin American and Mediterranean dishes." It's also well-known in Caribbean cooking, too. While sofrito recipes may vary from region to region, Musgrave says that the good thing about this recipe is that it's "super easy with just a few ingredients." In fact, if you take a closer look at this 6-ingredient recipe, you'll see it could almost be considered a 4-ingredient recipe, since half of the ingredients are just different types of bell peppers.

As to what to do with the finished sofrito, Musgrave says "This is used for a variety of Latin American stews, braises, and dishes," and goes on to explain that the dish shown in the photos is braised short ribs seasoned with sofrito. If you'd like some additional inspiration, you could also check out this Caribbean-inspired recipe for sofrito-style beans, or this one for baked snapper with sweet potatoes and sofrito.

The main ingredient for this recipe is bell peppers. Musgrave uses a red one, a green one, in addition to a handful of mini peppers, but you could probably make do with whatever combo of bell peppers you happen to have on hand. The different sizes and colors don't differ in flavor to the point where using one in place of the other is likely to ruin the sauce. The mini peppers, and the red varieties tend to be less bitter than the green kind though, and your sauce will also be a bit more monochromatic. In addition to the peppers, you'll also need an onion, some garlic, and a bunch of fresh cilantro. That's it — no salt, acid, or fat needed for this sofrito.

The first step in this recipe, before you start chucking everything in the blender, is to do some peeling and chopping. Yes, it's going to hurt, but that onion's not going to undress and slice itself, nor will the garlic cloves, although these won't wage all-out warfare on your tear ducts. In fact, while you do have to peel the garlic, it's not necessary to chop it up before blending, but those onions do need to be cut into quarters. Helpful hint: if you wear an old pair of swim goggles, it will help with the onion fumes.

The peppers, too, will also need to be sliced, and you should remove the cores and seeds, as well. While the seeds in hot peppers amp up the spiciness, the ones in bell peppers don't bring a great deal to the party besides some unwanted bitterness.

Once all the ingredients have been prepped, toss them in the food processor or blender, along with the cilantro. Press blend, then let everything whizz around in there for 1 minute. If your appliance isn't jumbo-sized, you may find it's best to work in batches, and only blend half of the ingredients at a time.

After a minute, use a rubber spatula or something similar to scrape down the sides, then continue blending. Stop and scrape again after another minute, continuing the cycle until your sofrito looks thick and pasty, rather than chunky and lumpy.

Musgrave recommends storing the sofrito in a glass jar, explaining that "The color and flavor can seep into a plastic container." If you store it in a jar, keep it in the refrigerator, and try to use it up in a week before it goes bad. As to how to use it, you can stir it into soups, stews, rice dishes, stir fries, or wherever you think it might work.

If you don't think you can use up 4 cups of sofrito in a single week, that's no problem. While you could simply cut the recipe down to a more manageable size, another idea is to freeze whatever portion you're unlikely to use. In this case, however, you will need to freeze it in airtight plastic containers, since glass jars doesn't do well in the freezer.