How to Make Vegetable Stock at Home
Stock is a basic ingredient in all kinds of complex dishes, such as stews, soups, and rice. Most of the time, you can also just use water to cook these things, but having a good vegetable broth on hand when you’re making risotto, for example, can lead to great results, especially if it’s homemade. 5-Minute Crafts will show you how to prepare a vegetable broth that will help you create vibrant, rich meals.
What you’ll need
- An 8-liter pot (approximately)
- A knife
- A cutting board
- A skimmer or ladle
- Glass or plastic storage containers
Ingredients
- 3 cups of mushrooms (any type will do)
- 1 fennel (only stems and leaves are needed)
- 5 celery stalks
- 4 medium carrots
- 2 large onions
- ¼ cabbage head
- ½ large peeled kohlrabi
- 5 leeks cut in half lengthwise and washed
- 1 small handful of fresh flat-leaved parsley
- 1 garlic head cut in half crosswise
- 12 whole black peppercorns
- 6 whole white peppercorns
- 3 bay leaves
- 6 to 8 sprigs of fresh thyme
If you don’t have one of these ingredients, you can either skip it or replace it with any vegetable that you’d like.
Instructions
1. Cut the vegetables.
Cut the fennel stalks, celery, carrots, mushrooms, onion, and cabbage into thin slices. Then proceed to cut the remaining vegetables into larger pieces before placing everything in the pot. Add the spices and cover everything with lukewarm water.
2. Bring it to a boil.
Bring the pot with all the ingredients to a simmer over high heat. Once the broth is close to boiling, remove the impurities that rise to the surface with a ladle or skimmer. Then lower the heat and cook at a low heat for 45 to 60 minutes.
3. Remove it from the fire and strain it.
After that time, remove the broth from the heat and let it rest and cool for about 10 or 15 minutes. Then proceed to serve it in a glass or plastic container using a fine strainer. Be sure to wait for it to cool completely before storing it in the fridge.