Each time a Latin American country comes on the radar, Gran Cocina Latina by Maricel Pricilla comes off the shelf. This 900-page tome written by a scholar and explorer who can cook, write, and has experienced ways people live and do things first hand. It is a detailed guide to this huge part of the word. Not sure if there is another book that takes so broad on a continent and focuses so deep on its diversity spelling the details with how’s and why’s.
It is how’s and why’s seem to be the most liberating. They untie the blind attachment to recipes and give better understanding that, in turn, allows for more freedom and fun in the kitchen.
Such was with the description of the Dominican Traveling Sazón, Sazón o Recado Dominicano, a pungent herbal uncooked paste which becomes an essential part of Dominican Sofrito, a cooked sauce which is the base and a secret behind the special flavor Dominican dishes are known for.
It happened so that the day after reading about Dominican sazón and sofrito, while volunteering at our radio station, I found myself in the room with a person from… the Dominican Republic. The moment we touched upon food, they asked:
— Have you heard about Dominican spaghetti?
Of course not.
A little research and it turned out that Dominican spaghetti is a crazy popular dish. It is pasta with fried Dominican salami, red onion and garlic, bell peppers, green olives, capers, and tomatoes cooked in Dominican sofrito based on Dominican sazón. Equally tasty and interesting to make.
I’ve said it before and say it again: we are so lucky to live in this incredibly diverse area where there are people from all parts of the world and they bring with them their favorites and are eager to share (writing this on the morning after a day at the Queens Night Market in Corona).
With the help from Paterson markets and Queens bodegas, I’ve got my hands on Dominican salami, broad leaf culantro, ajíes dulces, and Mexican oregano. Here it is — Dominican spaghetti.
SAZÓN:
— 13 garlic cloves
— 1 medium yellow onion
— 2 cubanelle peppers
— 12 Caribbean sweet peppers, ajíes dulces
— 6 leaves culantro
— 1 tsp dried Mexican oregano
— 2 tsp salt
— 1 tsp black pepper
— 1 Tbsp vinegar
Blend all the ingredients in a food processor to a coarse paste.
SOFRITO:
— 1/4 cup achiote infused oil or lard
— 1/4 lb bacon, diced
— 1 cup dominican sazón
— 1 cup light tomato sauce
— 2 tsp salt
1. Heat the oil or lard in a skillet, add the bacon and cook until brown.
2. Stir in sazon and tomato paste and cook for another 10 min, or until oil separates.
SPAGHETTI:
— 1 lb spaghetti
— 2 Tbsp olive oil
— 1 lb Dominican salami, diced about 3/4″
— 1 red onion, chopped
— 2 garlic cloves, crushed
— 1 green or red bell pepper, chopped
— 1/2 cup manzanilla olives, pitted
— 2 Tbsp capers, rinsed
— 4 plum tomatoes, chopped
— 1 tsp dried oregano
— 1 cup tomato sauce
— 2 cups sofrito
— 1 Tbsp vinegar
— black pepper
— 1/2 cup parmesan, gratwed
1. In a large pan, heat the oil and cook salami until brown.
2. To the same pan add onion, garlic,bell pepper, olives, and capers. Cook until onion becomes translucent.
3. Add tomatoes and oregano, cover and cook for 5 min, until tomatoes are cooked.
4. Add tomato paste, sofrito, vinegar and stir in to mix.
5. Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to a boil and cook spaghetti until just pliable, 7-8 min.
6. Move partially cooked spaghetti into the pan with sauce and cook stirring constantly and adding pasta water as needed until pasta is cooked and absorbed most of the sauce.
7. Serve sprinkled with black pepper and parmesan.
