
My culantro plant has gotten full & bushy in the warm, sunny greenhouse. I couldn't wait to make a batch of culantro sofrito for beans, rice, eggs and just spooning onto everything to give winter a little 'summer' spice! Sofrito is a very flavorful blend of garlic, onions, peppers, tomato, culantro, cilantro, oregano and a little vinegar chopped or pureed and seasoned to taste. I think every chef has their own recipe for sofrito. It's simply heated in oil and added to a variety of dishes to add amazing flavor.

Culantro Sofrito
I was excited to purchase some exotic herbs at a Vietnamese plant stand near Philly one summer day. It turned out that one was a beefsteak plant (turned out to be shiso), another thai baby eggplant, floating enhydra, minari (a spicy, leafy green parsley/celery like herb) and Vietnamese culantro! I'd only used culantro a few times in my career, it's challenging to find but I had researched and was a fan! My sofrito recipe is inspired by the famous Puerto Rican chef Alfredo Ayala. I met and assisted him in preparing for his demo at the CIA San Antonio many years ago. To this day I remember his passion and respect for ingredients such as the sweet peppers of Puerto Rico, simple garlic, rice and culantro when he taught me to prepare sofrito. I like to keep my recipe simple and flexible so I can use it for a variety of dishes, if you like extra garlic or more spice... just add a little more garlic or add some hot peppers, etc...
Sofrito
Prep Time: 20 min
Blending Time: 15 min
Yield: 4 portions
Ingredients
8 ea Garlic, peeled
2 Cups Spanish onions, peeled and rough chopped
1 Cup Tomatoes, seeded and rough chopped
1 Cup Red bell peppers, split, seeded and rough chopped
1 Cup Green bell peppers, split, seeded and rough chopped
1 Cup Culantro, fresh leaves, washed
2 Cups Cilantro, fresh leaves and stems, washed
4 Tbsp Oregano, fresh leaves
2 oz Vinegar, white
tt Kosher Salt
tt Crushed Black Pepper
How to Prepare Sofrito



Step 1
Simply blend or chop all of the ingredients in a food processor or blender, season to taste.
Scrape down the sides to avoid chunks.
Step 2
Scrape down the sides to avoid large chunks.
Step 3
Season to taste, label and store in tightly sealed containers/ freeze for future use.






