Catalan Sofrito

Sofreír is the definition of slow cooking in Spain and Latin America. The technique is, essentially, slow cooking vegetables and aromatics in oil without coloring them.
Ingredients
- 8 very ripe Roma tomatoes
- 1 large Spanish onion
- ½ cup olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 Tbsp smoked paprika
- Black pepper to taste
Method
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1
Blanch tomatoes in boiling water for 1 minute. Cool in cold water and peel. Cut in half and squeeze out seeds. Chop tomato flesh into small pieces.
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2
Chop onion finely. Pour oil into a pot. Put heat on low and sofreir the onion for 20-30 minutes without coloring it. Add garlic, paprika and pepper, then cook 5 more minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook until they begin to render water. Add salt, increase heat to medium and cook gently, stirring on occasion.
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3
When tomatoes begin to dry out and sizzle again (around 1 hour), reduce heat to medium-low and let sofreir 10 minutes more.
A variation of the Cooked Salad from The Spice Trekkers Cook at Home