Sofrito Base

The base to a condiment used in Puerto Rican recipes (like picadillo). In those recipes, it is combined with other key ingredients (like butter, garlic, or tomato sauce) and cooked into sofrito. We keep the ingredients raw here so that they aren't cooked twice, which would weaken their flavors.

Note: This recipe makes a lot. Much, much more than what you need, for example, if you follow the picadillo recipe. You can freeze the leftovers and use them in future meals, or you can quarter this recipie (and still have some leftover).

Ingredients

• 1 lb tomatoes (~6 large tomatoes), roughly chopped
• ½ lb green bell peppers (~6 medium peppers), deseeded and roughly chopped
• ½ lb onions (~2 medium onions), roughly chopped
• 2 oz ajíes dulces (a sweet pepper), deseeded and roughly chopped
• 20 leaves fresh culantro (cilantro can be used as a substitute), roughly chopped
• 15 sprigs of cilantro, roughly chopped
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• ¼ cup olive oil

To Prepare

1. Add oil to blender, then blend all ingredients together - except for oregano - one vegetable at a time.
2. Stir in oregano.