The perfect traditional Greek veal Sofrito recipe straight from the island of Corfu!! With this step-by-step easy to follow Greek Sofrito recipe you can easily recreate this traditional delight from scratch! If you ever been at Corfu you can’t have missed this incredibly tasty traditional dish of juicy and tender, melt-in-the-mouth veal with a delicious intense garlic and vinegar based sauce. Simply amazing!
Greek Sofrito recipe – A traditional Corfu dish
This Greek veal Sofrito recipe is one of the most famous traditional Corfiot dishes, along with the local meat pie (kreatopita). What makes this Greek dish so popular and unique is the melt in the mouth, perfectly cooked veal/beef and the intense garlic and vinegar flavor.
If garlic is your thing then this traditional Sofrito recipe is a must try. Sofrito is a staple of every household in beautiful Corfu island. When the locals prepare Sofrito they use whole garlic heads, but this Sofrito recipe uses only 8 (!) garlic cloves, but don’t be afraid garlic when cooked, looses its very strong smell and flavor and becomes sweet and aromatic.
Greek Sofrito recipe – How to make the perfect Greek veal/beef Sofrito
The secret behind the perfect Sofrito recipe is nothing else than choosing the right cut of beef and cooking it the right way. For a traditional Sofrito recipe you need to choose thin slices of good quality stewing beef or even better veal, preferable top round, which when cooked for a long time, becomes fork tender.
When cooking a Greek beef sofrito, the meat is first dredged in flour and pan-fried until browned and sealed to keep it nice and juicy. It is then added to a vinegar and white wine sauce along with lots of garlic and lots of parsley. Let the sofrito simmer to allow the sauce to thicken and its flavours to mingle into something much much more!
This earthy dish is best paired with a refreshing Greek feta salad which cuts into the meaty garlic flavor and will further enrich this traditional dish with the aromas of oregano and feta.
So go ahead prepare this easy to follow Greek Sofrito recipe, which never fails to impress and is always a crowd pleaser! Enjoy!
Traditional Sofrito Recipe from Corfu
- Prep Time: 10 min
- Cook Time: 40 min
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 6 portions 1x
- Category: Main
- Method: Stew
- Cuisine: Greek
Description
A traditional Greek Beef Sofrito recipe straight from the island of Corfu! Discover how you can recreate this traditional Corfu dish with this step-by-step easy to follow Greek Sofrito recipe.
Ingredients
- 1 kg (35 oz./2 pounds) boneless veal (top round), cut in 6 slices
- 150g all purpose flour, for dredging (5 oz.)
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1/3 of a cup olive oil, for frying
- 7–9 cloves of garlic, sliced
- 1/3 of a cup white wine vinegar
- 1/3 of a cup white wine
- 1 and 2/3 cups beef broth (warm)
- 1/2 a cup freshly chopped parsley
- salt and freshly ground pepper
Instructions
- To prepare this delicious Greek sofrito recipe, start by preparing the veal. Season the meat with salt and freshly ground pepper and dredge lightly the veal slices with flour, tapping off any excess. Heat the oil and butter in a large non stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the veal (in batches) and sauté, until browned on all sides. Do not add all the meat in the sauce pan, rather sauté in batches, so that the temperature of the oil remains high and the meat is sealed. When done, remove with a slotted spoon, place on a platter, cover and set aside.
- Cut the garlic cloves in slices and add in the same oil used to brown the meat. Turn down to medium heat and stir for a minute. Pour in the white wine vinegar and deglaze. Add the veal and the white wine and wait for a couple of minutes to steam up. Add the warm broth and season with salt and pepper.
- Turn the heat down to low-medium and simmer until the veal is tender and the sauce thickens, for about 30-40 minutes. About 5 minutes before removing from the heat, stir in the freshly chopped parsley.
- Serve the Sofrito while still hot over mashed potatoes, rice or fries, with some crusted garlic bread aside. Enjoy!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 portion
- Calories: 314kcal
- Sugar: 0.3g
- Sodium: 679.9mg
- Fat: 5.7g
- Saturated Fat: 2.6g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2.7g
- Trans Fat: 0.2g
- Carbohydrates: 21.2g
- Fiber: 0.9g
- Protein: 40.5g
- Cholesterol: 98.4mg
Keywords: Sofrito recipe, Corfu Veal Sofrito
Like the name itself suggests this dish is far from being a “typical” greek dish – It’s a Jewish stew, popular among Sepharadic jews (Corfu had a thriving, centuries old, community of Sepharadic Jews) and usually cooked on fridays.
Sadly this information might have been forgetten throughout the years, since most of the Jews in the Island found their death during the Nazi conquest in WWII (AKA Holocaust), when they were transported to death camps in East Europe. Greece, by the way, is among the countries who as little as possible to commomrate its sons who in some cities like Thessaloniki were 50% of the population 🙁
What about the balslovick revolution 1917. Greek
Genocide by the Turks. Not many people REMEBER history unfortunately. Then back 1n 325 ad again genocide of the Christian orthodox Greeks. . 1825 greek independence day
Read my friends . History is important.
The 40’s was a fantastic time period
Nice keep up the good work.
We love this recipe we have it with the
Greek fries recipe 👍