What's for Dinner? - Sofrito

This next recipe is actually part of another recipe that I will be sharing in the next "What's for Dinner?" blog post. It is a sort of relish dish that I learned to make from a neighbor where we used to live.  The lady was a mix of 2 different Latino heritages, and she was a great cook.  She willingly shared her love for cooking as well as several recipes from her families authentic Latino dishes that we enjoy in our family from time to time.

The Sofrito recipe has a variety of different "flavors."  The main base is bell peppers.  So you can vary the flavor of the sofrito according to your preference in peppers.  However, I will tell you that with the mix of ingredients, you hardly know that the final product is mainly peppers.

The following is the recipe as shared with me from my neighbor.

Sofrito

Ingredients:

1/2 tsp. vegetable oil

1/2 green pepper diced

1/2 red pepper diced

1/2 yellow pepper diced

1/2 orange pepper diced

1/2 onion diced

3 cloved of garlic or 1 1/2 tsp. of minced garlic

1 small bunch of cilantro (about 1/4 cup chopped)

Salt to taste

1 Roma or small tomato diced

1/2 packet Sazon seasoning

Directions:

In a frying pan, sauté the peppers and onion in vegetable oil until onions become translucent.  Add in the minced garlic and sauté for 2 minutes.  Remove the pepper and onion mixture from the heat and place in a food processor or blender.  Add the cilantro and chop until a fairly smooth mixture remains.  Add salt, 1/2 packet of sazon, and diced tomato to the pepper mixture and chop again until smooth.  Taste at this time to see if it is lacking in flavor.  Add more salt if needed.  This recipe makes about 1 1/2 cups of sofrito.  

Tips:

1.  I have made this recipe with only green peppers or a mixture of green and red peppers.  It will produce a slightly different taste depending upon the type of pepper you use.  The one I made this last week was with green peppers only (pictured above even though it came out a little blurry).  The red coloring is from the added tomato and the sazon. 

2.  When preparing the cilantro for use in this dish, cut off the thicker portion (about the first 2 inches) of the stem.
3.  Sazon is a seasoning that can be found in the Mexican food section at Wal-mart.  It comes in a box of 10 individual packets for $1.12.  I have also used this seasoning in other dishes just to give it a change of flavor.  It can also be used to make Red Rice (a Guamanian dish using achiote).  Warning:  It has a very red coloring and will stain fingers and white spoons!

I actually like to eat the sofrito right after it is made when it is still warm by itself.  It can be used in a variety of dishes to add a unique flavor.  Next time, I will share one of the recipes that the sofrito is used in...Empanadas.