SAUTE' (BASIC ITALIAN STOCK)

By Phil-2

Ingredients

• 1 white onion
• 1 carrot
• 1 celery stalk

Preparation

Step 1

The ‘soffritto’ is one of those preparations that we Italians almost take for granted for it is the basis of anything we cook. Only a few ingredients are required: an onion, a carrot and a celery stalk. A

ll you have to do is wash them, trim them and chop them up. The secret here is to cook everything very slowly over low heat so that the vegetables become soft but do not burn.

The soffritto is the base for dishes ranging from stews to roasts, from simple vegetable soups to more elaborate creations.

To make the soffritto, peel the onion and cut it in half; slice it lengthwise and then crosswise in order to obtain cubes that are more or less of the same size. Cut off the ends of the carrot and then peel it. Cut it lengthwise into thin slices and then slice these to obtain cubes as you did with the onion. As for the celery stalk, after washing it and removing any leaves, eliminate the filaments using a potato peeler. Following the above procedure, slice it lengthwise and then crosswise in order to obtain cubes.

Mix the 3 vegetables together and cook over low heat in a little oil and butter. What you do not use can be frozen and used at a future time without thawing it.