Soffritto

The slow, low-heat sweating of finely diced onion, carrot, and celery in olive oil or butter — usually in a 2:1:1 ratio — until the vegetables soften without coloring. The base of most Italian sauces, stews, and braises.

A soffritto cannot be rushed. Twenty minutes is the floor; thirty is more honest. The vegetables should sigh, not sizzle.