My Mother’s Black Bean Sofrito Recipe

Image Courtesy of Mexico in My Kitchen

By Anthony Curioso and Jackie Wright

According to the Latino Foodie blog, sofrito is a staple in the cuisine of many Latin American countries, each with its distinct variations. The blog compares sofrito to the French mirepoix, perhaps because sofrito consists of plentiful vegetables, garlic, spices, and herbs sauteed in oil. Many Latin American cooks use sofrito to season their dishes. Here, I am sharing a recipe from my mother for a sofrito containing black beans.

This recipe has been in my family since my mother was a student at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts (she graduated in 1993, making the recipe at least thirty years old). While a student at Smith, she acquired the recipe from one of her friends. In my family, we refer to the dish as “the Moffats’ beans” because “Moffat” was the maiden name of my mother’s friend who gave us the recipe. Though typically served over rice in our family, this recipe also works well as a dip with tortilla chips or in whatever vessel you desire. The dish also freezes and reheats well, so you can still have leftovers for a few days afterward.

Ingredients:

2 cans of black beans (14.5 ounces each)

⅓ cup of olive oil

1 Tablespoon of minced garlic

1 bell pepper, chopped fine**

1 can (14 oz.) of tomatoes, drained

1 Tablespoon of cumin

1 jalapeno pepper, minced

2 Tablespoons of cider vinegar

1 teaspoon of salt

½ teaspoon of pepper

Cilantro for garnish (optional)

** The recipe originally calls for green bell peppers, but we usually use red, orange, or yellow bell peppers.

Instructions:

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, and bell pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent—about 8 minutes. Add tomatoes, cumin, jalapeno, vinegar, salt, and pepper. Cook for 2 minutes more, breaking up the tomatoes with a spoon. 

Add beans***. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, over medium heat for 20 minutes. Uncover and cook for 10 minutes more. Sprinkle with cilantro as desired and serve in your chosen vessel.

*** Sometimes, when we make this recipe, we drain and rinse the beans before adding them to the pot. We have also made the recipe without draining the beans. If you drain the liquid, please watch the heat so the mixture doesn’t dry out too much toward the end of the cooking time.

My family has made this recipe numerous times, and almost everyone loves it. We are lightweights for spice tolerance, so we sometimes top our sofrito servings with guacamole, fresh avocado, grated cheese, and/or sour cream to help cool off the heat from the jalapeno. As my memory serves, although my family typically has a significant variety of food laid out when we watch the Super Bowl, this recipe has never made it onto our list of food options for the Big Game. However, I understand why one might want to include it as an option in their spread for the game, especially as a dip for tortilla chips.