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Cuban sofrito is a wonderful flavorful salsa that’s used in many dishes as a staple in most Cuban households. While I eat it by the spoonful, it’s a wonderful addition to your meals such as added to stewed beans, my three bean tortilla soup, or even eaten with chips. It’s a great compliment to your next meal.
Traditional sofrito is made of onions, garlic, peppers, and usually stewed with a bay leaf. Typically, it will also include pork which is why this post has been labeled plant-based as it is not often known for being a vegetarian dish. While there are many varieties, my culinary instincts suggest the use of tomatoes being a prominent ingredient in my approach to sofrito. I find that this pairs well with many of the dishes that I create.
Why You Need To Make This Sofrito Ahead Of Time
If you’re at all familiar with my Instagram, you’ll know I suggest freezing as a secret weapon to your entertaining or for your “meals in a pinch.” Freezing allows us to easily plan and structure healthy meals without the daily struggle or time requirements that come with building chef-style meals. By doing so, we are able to reduce our daily cooking times, enjoy more, and worry less. Freezing helps me to minimize the stress around elaborate, flavorful, and nutrient-dense meals. It gives me the freedom to bring further variety to my plate with a reduced workload.
If you’re one of my readers with MCAS, you can substitute tomatoes with roasted red peppers (canned & in water.) Most times the pepper’s skin and seeds have been removed which also helps if lectins are a problem. While I cannot state much knowledge on this subject, it is discussed occasionally in our community.
How To Make Cuban Sofrito A Part Of Your Next Party
As you may have noticed in my about me section, my goal is to guide you on how to connect you to a more fabulous self. This means I want to assist you in “doing it all” while still enjoying a healthy and healing life, one that celebrates good food, and the moments that come with it. It’s possible to entertain while still enjoying the relaxing elements of a party and I hope this blog serves as a guide on how to attempt to do this. Here are my recommendations for this recipe and how you can incorporate it into your lifestyle.
Prior to planning any item into your next gathering or weekly meal plan, become familiar with the recipe first. This means create & freeze the menu items prior to that day. This helps to ensure that the menu item works in the ways that we need. Learning how the recipe is made helps to guide you on how to plan it into a larger event.
Determine how it will be used. Will you use it in a dinner party where soup is being served and it’s added to the dish? Will you use it at an elevated BBQ as a dip with chips? Understanding how this dish fits into your event is helpful in creating a successful gathering. Proper planning reduces stress prior and during your event!
Plan how much you will need for how it is used. Once you’ve made the recipe and enjoyed it personally, be sure to take account of how much you enjoy per serving and in what way. Using a small dollop of Cuban sofrito in a soup or with grilled meat will be utilized differently when compared to it being served with an appetizer. Therefore, once this is determined you can plan how much you will need with the knowledge you gathered.
Make it ahead, and then freeze it. Once complete, cool it properly and proceed to freezing. When preparing for your party, defrost the item one day prior to in your fridge. Keep in mind that frozen items should be defrosted in their container with constant cool water if defrosting the day of. Items should not be left out on the counter for defrosting.
If serving it cold, or at room temperature: Plate it and reserve in your fridge. This step helps to reduce additional steps needed when guests arrive.
The Best Plant-Based Cuban Sofrito For Tomato Lovers
Ingredients
- 1 small yellow onion
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 dried bay leaves
- 5 garlic cloves
- 1 large red pepper
- 1 small green pepper
- 3 roma tomatoes or 1 can fire roasted tomatoes
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1/2 bunch of fresh cilantro
- 1/2 tsp simply organic grind to salt blend
- 1 tbsp salt
- ¼-½ tsp cumin
- 1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- ¼-½ cup tomato sauce
Instructions
- Start off by washing your hands thoroughly with warm water and soap.
- Proceed to wash all of your produce thoroughly and wiping the top of cans to be opened.
- Set up all of your ingredients & cooking tools (also known as ‘mise en place’)
- Following this, begin to cut your onions, peppers, & tomatoes as well as your garlic cloves and cilantro. Dicing the onions, peppers, and tomatoes, while thinly chopping the garlic and cilantro.
- Next, add your extra virgin olive oil to a medium/large shallow pan.
- Once it becomes hot, add in your onions, peppers, and tomatoes while holding off on the garlic. Add in your bay leaves at this time as well.
- Allow these ingredients to become gently cooked and add in your remaining ingredients except your cilantro, stirring to combine.
- Bring the ingredients to a boil and reduce to a simmer until fully cooked. You want the mixture to have liquid content that remains, but with all veggies thoroughly cooked.
- Taste the mixture and adjust seasoning to your flavor profile.
- Remove your bay leaves and discard.
- Following this, add your mixture to a food processor and pulse until mixture is combined more thoroughly. Add in your cilantro leaves and pulse until desired texture. We are looking to achieve a rougher chopped product that appears to be more “paste-like” however the individual ingredients are still visibly apparent.
More Recipes To Enjoy
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