Soffritto

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Soffritto (literally "sub-fried" in Italian) forms the base of most common Italian dishes. It consists of aromatic ingredients sautéed with cooking oil. The basic soffritto is prepared with olive oil, chopped onions (or scallions) and sometimes chopped garlic cloves. According to the recipe or the regional preference, olive oil may be replaced with butter or both may be used. The next step is to add extra ingredients to the soffritto. There is a great variety of options, such as vegetables (carrots, celery, artichokes, etc.), mushrooms, prosciutto, tuna, olives and so on, but these are not chosen arbitrarily since they are usually considered the ingredients giving a meal its distinct character.

[edit] See also

• sofrito
• mirepoix