Chef Daisy Martinez first opened my eyes to the process of making Puerto Rican sofrito, which is a staple in Caribbean Latin cuisine. Basically, the concept of sofrito is that instead of sautéing vegetables, herbs, and aromatics individually, it speeds up and the process by doing it all at once. All ingredients are broken down in a food processor to create one fantastic cooking base. Chopping veggies and herbs really fine releases more of their flavors, so a sofrito simply capitalizes on that concept. Think of it as an all-natural, plant-based bullion.
Locating in Ajicito Dulce peppers in grocery stores can be difficult. They’re usually found next to similar hot peppers such as Habañeros and Scotch Bonnet peppers.
Culantro is typically found next to the cilantro in a grocery store.
Puerto Rican Sofrito
Puerto Rican sofrito ingredients – Ajicito Dulce peppers, culantro, cilantro, garlic, tomato, red pepper, spanish onion, long hot Italian peppers.
Ingredients for Puerto Rican sofrito
- 2 bunches of culantro
- 2 bunches of cilantro, stems included
- 1 large Spanish onion
- 1 cup garlic cloves
- 2 cups ajicito dulce peppers
- 2 long hot Italian peppers
- 1 red bell pepper
- 2 vine tomatoes
Instructions
- Loosely chop cilantro and culantro, including stems.
- Remove stubs and cores from all peppers and tomatoes.
- Cut down all ingredients into large chunks, about the same size as the garlic cloves. This makes everything more food processor friendly to mix evenly.
- Combine all ingredients in a large bowl to incorporate evenly before transferring to food processor. Process in batches until texture is uniform.
- Transfer sofrito to containers suited for freezer storage. Some people use ice trays, but I prefer to use take-out plastic containers.
Ajicito Dulce Peppers are like a piece of art, and usually difficult to find. Often times they are dark green in color, but they run the gamut of red, yellow, orange and bright green.
