Vegetable Stock

I love a homemade stock. Not only is it a great way of using up left over veg, but when used in homemade soup I get a great sense of satisfaction knowing that I have made every bit of it. Another benefit for me is that the stock cubes here in Switzerland are really quite salty and I like being able to control how much salt goes in my food (even if it is too much sometimes!).

 

This time, I used the following veg in my stock as this is what I had in my veg draw but I would say most root veg is usable. This recipe makes about 1.5 litres of stock.

 

1/4 of a white cabbage

2 carrots

2 onions, peeled

2 shallots, peeled

4 radishes

1 celery head

2 broccoli stalks

small bunch each of fresh thyme and parsley

1 clove garlic

5 peppercorns

2 Bay leaves

 

Roughly chop all the veg and place it in a saucepan big enough to hold everything and top up with water.  Cover and simmer gently for 30 minutes. At this point you can concentrate the stock so you can freeze it, to do this, vigorously boil until the liquid has almost halved. I normally pour into ice cube trays then pop them into a freezable sandwich bag once they are frozen. When you want to use them just put as many as you need in a jug and pour over boiling water to melt. Great used in Risottos, soups and anything else you use stock for!

 

This is a great thing to make on a sunday which the left over peelings and veg ends from your roast dinner.