I don’t like to buy premixed seasoning. I usually mix desired ingredients into whatever dish I’m making. The up side is that I get fresh-tasting food. The down side is that if I’m not feeling up to cooking from scratch, I revert to substitutes. My substitute for sofrito is below.
Here’s my quick recipe for sofrito paste.
- 2 medium onions (white or yellow based on taste preference)(peeled)
- 1 head of garlic (peeled)
- 2 medium green bell peppers (stemmed and seeded)
- 1 red bell pepper (stemmed and seeded)
- 2-3 large tomatoes
- 1 bunch fresh cilantro leaves
- 1/2 bunch fresh parsley leaves
- 1 teaspoon of salt (more to taste)
Cut the onions, peppers, tomatoes into fourths and break garlic into fourths. Put all of the ingredients in a blender. Blend until thoroughly mixed and pasty.
If the mixture becomes too thick to continue blending but doesn’t look thoroughly mixed, spoon it out into a glass bowl and continue to mix with a spoon or spatula.
The amount needed for different recipes varies greatly on the recipe and the serving size of the recipe.
You can store whatever you don’t use in a jar in the refrigerator or in a freezer bag and frozen.
*My sofrito confession: When I’m caught craving sofrito but I haven’t made any, I substitute chunky salsa** in my desired spiciness. While sofrito is usually pasty, I use chunky salsa because regular salsa is too watery. I’d rather have chunky than watery.
**Yes. I also make salsa and pico de gallo from scratch