So I had guests come over yesterday for dinner - latin guests at that. I knew it was the perfect opportunity to start trying these veganized Puerto Rican dishes. What better to kick off my new adventure than with my all-time favorite - Pastelón! Literally my mouth waters every time I think about it, but the traditional Puerto Rican lasagna is made with ground beef and shredded mozzarella cheese. Well let me tell you, I came up with a vegan version and it was SLAMMIN'! Stay tuned this week for that recipe!
I need to start with some of the seasonings I had to use because it was not as easy as going to the grocery store and picking up some Goya. Unfortunately upon reading their ingredients I found that they were laden with MSG, artificial colors and artifical chemical flavorings. Not cool. So today I'll give you the basis to many Puerto Rican dishes, made fresh at home with none of the icky chemical additives.
Sofrito
1 large bunch of cilantro, chopped
1 red pepper
1 orange pepper
1 yellow pepper
1 large red onion
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon oregano
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Mix all ingredients in a food processor or blender.
Storage:
Keep what you will use in a small air tight jar or container. Freeze in ice cube trays what you won't use immediately. Once frozen, take it out of the ice cube trays and store it in plastic freeze bags until needed. Traditionally used to season rice, beans and other amazing dishes. Step 1 done - Yay!
