When life hands you banana peppers (My take on sofrito with tomatoes)

I love the Covey rise Farms share I got all summer and they really got me to get creative. The last share contained a whole bunch of banana peppers and I did not have enough uses for them.  I decided to get creative and make sofrito.  Well, sofrito with tomatoes. I hear that is not traditional, oops!

Sofrito is a base that is traditional in Latin American cuisine and can be adapted in a number of ways depending on the dish. I liken it to a veggie packed pesto without nuts. I decided to freeze mine into cubes and saved them in zip-top bags. It’s best used within a week if kept in the refrigerator but can be frozen for up to six months. Plop it in the pan straight out of the freezer to save time defrosting it.  I plan on making lots of things with this in the future such as soups, Arroz con pollo, enchilada sauce and omelets.  It is the perfect little pop of fresh flavor!

I adapted this to my own pantry, as I am sure most cooks do. As a funny aside, I could not find culantro anywhere so I subbed more cilantro.  About a week later we were on vacation and my mom bought culantro on accident! I can confirm it is pretty much just like cilantro in taste.  Make this your own!  Have you ever used sofrito before?  Full recipe to follow the montage. Linking up with Meal Plan Monday.

It's kind of like pesto I guess?

The lovely cast.

Chop them up so they play nice in the food processor.

Let's go for a whirl!

I picked this little gem up at Ikea, I use it all the time! Freeze them, pop in a bag and enjoy!

My take on Sofrito
Makes 3 cups.
1 medium bell pepper, seeded and quartered.
3 ají dulce chiles, seeded and roughly chopped ( I used banana peppers)
6 large garlic cloves, peeled.
1 large yellow onion, coarsely chopped.
1/4 cup cilatro, chopped
I can diced tomatoes, drained
1/2 tsp habanero hot sauce or hot sauce of your choice

Place all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and blend into a smooth puree, scraping the sides halfway through to incorporate fully. Season with salt and pepper.

Happy Cooking!

Missy

P.S. Come back tomorrow to see what I made with this!