Serves 8 cups. Prep time of 10 minutes, Cook time of 120 minutes.
Keep a container or food bag in the freezer to collect vegetable peelings, tops, tails, leaves and scraps. Once you have about 4-6 cups, you can make a stock. Homemade vegetable stock can be used as a base for soups, stews, sauces and various recipes. It’s a sustainable way to utilise kitchen scraps, enhance the flavour of your dishes and reduce food waste. Note that broccoli, cauliflower, potato peel and cabbage may make the stock bitter and they should not be included.
Ingredients
4-6 cups frozen vegetable scraps (e.g. onion peels, carrot tops, celery leaves, mushroom stems, herb stems, garlic, turnip, fennel bulbs and fronds, tomatoes, leeks, pumpkin, corn).
Water (enough to cover the scraps and they start to float).
Herbs and spices (e.g. bay leaves, thyme, rosemary, peppercorns).
Method
ln a large pot or slow cooker, add the frozen vegetable scraps, along with any herbs and spices that you would like to flavour the stock. Common additions include bay leaves, thyme, rosemary, and peppercorns. Be creative with your flavour combinations.
Cover the scraps with cold water. Use enough water to fully submerge the scraps, typically about 8-10 cups of water for a standard-sized pot.
Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer. Let it simmer for at least 1½-2 hours, but longer cooking times (up to 4 hours) can potentially extract more flavour from the scraps.
After simmering, strain the stock through a fine-mesh strainer or cheesecloth to remove the solid scraps and herbs.
Allow the stock to cool, then store it in containers. You can keep it in the refrigerator for a few days or freeze it for longer-term storage.
Author
Ellie McSheedy
Belgrave