vegetable stock concentrate

Inspired by a recipe made at a recent Thermomix party, I decided I’d have a go at making my own vegetable stock concentrate.  No added flavours, preservatives or other unknown and unwanted ingredients!  Just use instead of a stock cube and water down if you need liquid stock.

You can use up all your left-over-almost-dodgy vegetables in this recipe.  It will vary depending on what vegetables you have.  Here’s what went into this one, but you can adjust.  You can also adjust the amount of salt – the more salt the longer it will last and the more concentrated it will be.  Mine made quite a lot (about a 1 litre or a bit more) so I put it in old jars and gave it away to friends.

• 1 large onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 3 celery sticks
• bunch parsley
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 butternut pumpkin
• 2 zucchini
• handful mushrooms
• 2 carrots
• few Tbsp oil
• 3-4 Tbsp good salt eg Himalayan Rock Salt

1. Roughly chop vegetables.
2. Heat oil over med-high heat in a large stock pot.
3. Toss in all the vegetables and salt.  Stir.
4. Keep stirring frequently until vegetables are cooked.  It took about an hour for mine to cook through.  You don’t need to add liquid as the salt draws out the liquid from the vegetables.
5. Once the vegetables are cooked blend in a blender/stick blender or food processor.  Store in the fridge.