Name: Vegetable Stock
Ingredients: Coarsely chop any veg that’s still whole and place everything in a large saucepan covered with cold water. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer for as long as you have – anything from 30 minutes to a couple of hours. Strain through a sieve and you’re done. Let the stock cool before storing in the fridge (for up to 5 days) or the freezer (for several months) in a plastic container or as ice cubes.; Leave out potatoes and brassicas (e.g. cabbage, Brussels sprouts and broccoli).; Try to include an extra carrot, onion, leek and celery stick, peeled as needed and roughly chopped. Together these provide a particularly good base of flavour.; A few peppercorns will add a subtle peppery note, but hold off on the salt as you can add it later when using your stock. Reducing your stock at the end concentrates its flavour and you may find it too salty.; Certain herbs are good too, especially parsley, thyme and bay, but avoid the stronger ones such as rosemary and sage as they’ll overpower the delicate flavour of a veg stock. This is a good use of herb stalks, so next time a recipe calls for parsley leaves, keep the stalks in a bag in the fridge: they will last easily for a week or two.; A squirt of tomato purée (or a fresh tomato), chopped mushroom stalks and Parmesan rind all add an extra umami dimension. Parmesan rinds wrapped in cling film will keep in the fridge for weeks, or they can be stored in the freezer for months.

Guy Watson

Vegetable Stock

Preparation info

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Autumn and Winter Cooking with a Veg Box (Riverford Companions)

By Guy Watson

Published 2015

About

Method

Use what you have. It could be the guts of a butternut squash with a couple of onion ends to make a quick squash stock for a squash risotto, or it could be a medley of odds and ends collected over the week and kept in a plastic container or bag in the bottom of the fridge. There

Preparation info

Difficulty

Appears in

Method