Vegetable stock 

Deb February 8, 2005

Makes about 1-1 1/4 litres

  • 25 gm/1 oz butter or olive oil
  • About 1kg (2 lbs) mixed vegetables eg. 2 onions, 3 sticks of celery, 2 carrots, 2 broccoli stalks
  • 5 garlic cloves – don’t need to peel them, just cut up
  • 12 peppercorns
  • 2 bay leaves
  • bunch of parsley, or just the stalks
  • a few sprigs of thyme, or 1 tsp dried

Scrub and roughly chop the vegetables. Melt the butter in a large saucepan, add the vegetables and fry for 10 minutes until soft. Add 1.5 1itres (2 1/2 pints) of filtered water, the garlic, peppercorns, bay leaves, parsley and thyme. Bring to the boil, skim, cover and simmer gently for about 40 minutes, until the vege­tables are very soft. Leave the pot to stand until it’s completely cold, then skim the fat from the surface. This stock keeps for a few days in the fridge and also freezes well.