In Italian cooking, battuto is a chopped mixture of onion, celery and carrot that provides a fragrant vegetable base for savory sauces and hearty soups. Sometimes, a bit of sage, parsley, garlic or diced pancetta is added, depending on the recipe. When lightly fried in olive oil, the battuto is called soffritto, which comes from “sotto friggere” and means barely or under fried.