Sofrito

Sofrito (Spanish), sofregit (Catalan), soffritto (Italian), or refogado (Portuguese) is a sauce used as a base in Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and Latin American cooking. 

Serves 10

Ingredients:

🫒  ¼ cup olive oil

🧅  1 yellow onion, minced

🧄  2 cloves garlic, minced

🫑  ½ green bell pepper, seeded, and minced

🍷  ½ cup red wine (or white)

🍅  two 28-ounce (800 g) cans of whole tomatoes, drained, cored, and grated on a box grater OR 2 pounds of ripe tomatoes, grated on a box grater

🌿  1 sprig rosemary

🧂  scant ½ teaspoon fine grain sea salt

Directions:

To make the sofrito, heat the oil and gently cook the onions, not allowing any browning, until translucent and soft, 8 -10 minutes. 

Add the garlic, and the green bell pepper, and cook until these soften and fall apart a bit.

Add the wine, and allow to the alcohol to evaporate - a few minutes. 

Stir in the tomatoes, the rosemary and salt. Simmer gently, over very low heat, for 50 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Taste, and season with more salt, to taste. Remove the rosemary. Allow to cool, then store in the refrigerator, until ready to use.