Tag Archives: garlic

Sofrito 101

25 Dec

Sofrito is the foundation of many Latin dishes… it’s a mixture of garlic, peppers and onions.  Very similar to the “trinity” from the South, where the foundation of many dishes is garlic, carrots and celery or even carrots, onions and celery…  I guess every culture has their own combination… this is ours.

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SOFRITO

1 head of garlic
2 large onions
4 cubanelle peppers – we call them around here cooking peppers or “pimientos de cocinar”
  1. Chop everything in a food processor.
  2. Store in the refrigerator.  It will keep for a long time… you can even freeze it if you feel it’s too much amount to use in a few months time.

 I use this as a foundation for many dishes…  to start off any stewed dish, to give added flavor to a rice, to season a white “bechamel-type” sauce… you name it.  I wanted to share this basic recipe, because you’ll start to see it as an ingredient in many upcoming recipes. And, instead of having to chop onions, peppers and garlic  every time, sometimes you can shortcut by adding a few tablespoons of sofrito.

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Garlic Parsley Breadsticks

22 Dec

This is a great appetizer or accompaniment to any Italian dinner. 

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GARLIC PARSLEY BREADSTICKS

1/2 package of refrigerated whole-wheat bread-stick dough mix
1/4 cup of parsley, finely chopped
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
  1. Mix in a small bowl the parsley, garlic, salt, pepper and olive oil.
  2. Let it sit on top of the counter to marinate for about 20 minutes.
  3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  4. Take the bread-sticks dough and spread the garlic parsley mixture on one side.
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  6. Twist the individual bread-sticks and place next to each other in a baking sheet.
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  8. Bake for about 10-12 minutes or until the bread-sticks are golden brown.
  9. Serve warm.

You can definitely use this same garlic parsley mixture to make regular garlic bread… just spread it on a cut baguette and bake in the oven until crunchy.

My apologies… the bread-sticks smelled so good, I forgot to take a photo of them.

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Pasta with Marinated Tomatoes

14 Dec

This is one of my go-to recipes when I am hungry NOW!!! It’s super easy to make. I learned this recipe from an old Martha Stewart show where she cooked this with Oprah. That probably was about 10 years ago.

I like to make this pasta with spinach fettuccine, but you can use your favorite pasta. Noodles are nice because it’s a chunky sauce olive-oil based sauce and it coats them well, but any kind will do. This works as a main dish or as an accompaniment to others. I served this together with my Eggplant Parmesan dish.

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PASTA WITH MARINATED TOMATOES

1/2 pound of spinach fettuccine, or any other pasta you prefer
3 ripe medium tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons fresh basil, julienned
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
  1. Mix the tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, basil, garlic, salt, pepper and olive oil in a bowl. Let marinate while you make the pasta. Stir a few times so the flavors meld and the fresh tomatoes break up a bit.
  2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt liberally. Cook pasta according to package directions, al dente.
  3. Drain the pasta and return to the pot.
  4. Mix in the marinated tomatoes mixture in the hot pot.  The warmth of the pasta and the pot will warm-up the sauce.
  5. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top.

A few additional notes:

  • I never peel the tomatoes, but you can if you prefer it. I just wash them really well using Fit.
  • I’ve done this with regular tomatoes, vine-ripened tomatoes, cherry tomatoes and grape tomatoes. The results will always be delicious. And if tomatoes are not in season, use jarred chopped tomatoes (Viter is a great brand because they have no additives or preservatives).  If using whole canned or jarred tomatoes, just don’t add the juice they come in… Just take the tomatoes and chop them finely.
  • Make sure the sun-dried tomatoes do not contain sulfites… Sulfites are harmful to your health and a proved carcinogen.

This sauce is really versatile… later on, I’ll show you additional recipes in which yo can use the same marinated tomatoes in other applications.

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Marinated Olives

12 Dec

Last Summer I went to Spain and we ate olives as appetizers almost every night.  I love them.  The salty bite kind of gets your appetite going.  I use olives frequently in cooking, but not necessarily much on their own.  We’re having an office party this week and I thought it would be nice to take some marinated olives.

This is my interpretation, from what I can remember, of the marinated olives served at Olives, the Todd English restaurant.  He did the recipe in one of the old Martha Stewart shows.  I did the recipe a looooooong time ago, and this is what I came up with this time around.  Hope you like it.

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MARINATED OLIVES

1 jar of manzanilla olives, with pits (just be careful when eating)
1 clove of garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons of fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped (it could work with dry parsley too)
2 tablespoons rosemary
1 tablespoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
a few cranks of freshly cracked black pepper
1 piece of lemon rind or 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/2 cup olive oil

1. Just mix all ingredients together in a bowl.  Let the mixture sit for a few hours so the flavors meld.  It’s even better if the olives can marinate for a few days ahead in the refrigerator.

 No need to add salt… the olives will be salty enough by themselves.  And you can play around with the spices if you don’t have all of them.  Just use what you have and see how it tastes…  tell me about it, OK?

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