Soffritto (Mirepoix): What it is, how to use and how to freeze

Soffritto (also known as Mirepoix) is the base of many Italian dishes, especially in Tuscany. It's a culinary cornerstone renowned for its ability to elevate dishes with its aromatic blend of onions, carrots, and celery.

A good Italian cook ALWAYS has in her pantry onions, carrots, and celery. Here are a few examples of the recipe using soffritto as a base:

• Chickpea Potato Soup
• Tuscan Ragù Sauce
• Red Wine Venison Stew
• Ricotta Gnocchi with meatless Bolognese sauce
• Bolognese Beef Ragù

But now you don't need to have these vegetables always ready in your fridge. You can simply prepare a big batch of Soffritto and then freeze it in small single portions ready to use whenever you need it!

What is Soffritto or Mirepoix

You know the importance of a good flavored oil base. Most recipes in the world start with a sauté of onions or garlic (or both). This is done to infuse the oil with flavors which will then coat the rest of the ingredients.

In Italy we decided that it was not enough, so we added carrot and celery. The carrot adds the sweetness and the celery adds the aroma. All 3 together become one, with a new incredible flavor that goes well with everything.

It's not a coincidence that these 3 ingredients are also the main ingredients for vegetable stock. What we do practically is: instead of infusing water with onions, carrots, and celery to make the stock, we put them finely chopped directly in the pot with the other ingredients so we have a concentrated stock flavor.

Other Countries use a similar mix of vegetables as a base. France has the more famous Mirepoix which is exactly the same as Soffritto, except in the Creole cuisine which uses the bell pepper instead of the carrot. Spain has Sofrito which has onions, garlic, and tomatoes. Also in Italy, there are different versions, like Battuto which uses lard, onions, celery, and parsley (although you could really find 1000 different versions, depending on the region and family heritage).

How to make Soffritto / Mirepoix

The guidelines of French cuisine dictate that the good ratio would be 2:1:1 of onion, carrots, and celery. Which means 2 parts of onions, 1 part of carrots, and 1 part of celery. Although I usually use the ratio 1:1:1 to make a large batch because in some recipes I add the extra onion from fresh.

Another rule would be to finely dice the vegetables (brunoise) which literally takes hours to do if you're doing a large batch as in this recipe. Brunoise is beautiful to see and good to do if you're doing Soffritto only for a single recipe, but I suggest you avoid it if you're preparing soffritto in large batches. So the best and fastest way to do it is by blending the vegetables to a fine cut (not to a paste). This way the vegetables will soften nicely, infusing the dish with all their flavor and they will mostly disappear so you don't see them but still taste them (I personally don't like chunks of carrots and celery in the Ragù for example).

Roughly chop the vegetables and add them to a large food processor (1), pulse until the vegetables are finely minced (2). With a spoon, fill the silicon molds and press well to remove as much air as possible (3-4). Freeze for 24 hours, then remove the soffritto blocks from the molds and transfer to freezer bags (5-6).

Equipment

TIP: It's better if you use a silicone form so it will be easier to remove the frozen blocks. See some examples here (affiliate links):

           

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