Handy, versatile, all-natural stock concentrate – no nasties! This Vegetable Stock Paste is quick & easy to make. You can use it to make 8 litres of liquid stock. The paste lasts ages too!
You can use this stock paste any time you need vegetable stock. I use it in my paella, for example. One tablespoon is equivalent to one shop-bought cube ie perfect for half a litre of stock. You can add the paste straight to a recipe without dissolving first in water. It disperses easily. It tastes natural because it is really natural.
This is one of those handy recipes that is not sexy and exciting. but very useful. Just like Tomato & Basil Sauce, this Vegetable Stock Paste is a dependable, reliable favourite that you'll always want around.
✅ Benefits of a stock paste
It’s so easy to use! All you need to do is stir some paste into water. It doesn’t even need to be hot water (unless the recipe calls for hot stock).
No more:
- unwrapping fiddly little cubes
- cutting a cube in half because you only need a small amount of stock
- crumbling cubes between your fingers and stirring, stirring, stirring until it dissolves completely
- wondering what those unrecognisable additives are actually for
🥘 Ingredients
The ingredients here are loose suggestions. I choose to leave out onion and garlic (but these might be non-negotiable for many people). I recommend limiting the amount of sage and rosemary to 5g. These are very strong-flavoured herbs and can overpower. Making stock paste is a great way of using up that veg that’s past its prime languishing in the fridge. Not ready to make more stock, but have appropriate vegetables that need using up? Freeze your floppy celery sticks and carrots until ready to use? It’s worth bearing in mind that not all vegetables are suitable for stock:
NOT recommended:
- too bitter - leafy green parts of carrots and celery & brassicas (eg. cabbage, Brussel sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, turnips, kale), artichokes, green beans
- too soft (turn to mush and make the stock cloudy) - beetroot, potatoes (including sweet potatoes)
Go ahead and experiment with other flavours! You might want to make an Asian-inspired stock using mushrooms, garlic and miso?
🔪 Instructions
This recipe is inspired by a Thermomix recipe. We can apply the general principles with any food processor:
- finely chop ingredients
- cook over high heat with lots of rock salt
- blending to a puree
You do need a food processor for the blending part, you won’t want ‘bitty’ stock when you dilute the paste in water.
We add the chopped up ingredients to a large, heavy-based saucepan. Then we add the rock salt, peppercorns and oil.
We cook over high heat stirring often. As the paste starts to dry out, it will tend to stick to the bottom of the pan. We need to move it round frequently.
I agree, it does seem like a crazy amount. Salt enhances the flavour of food. Stock cubes are mostly salt (have you ever licked your fingers after crumbling up a stock cube?). Don’t forget this Vegetable Stock Paste is highly concentrated. We dissolve a tablespoon in half a litre of water to make half a litre of stock. The salt also acts as a preservative; this paste won’t go off. It will last several months in the fridge (but I’ve always used it up before then)
There’s a lot of salt in this recipe. Rock salt is simply a more concentrated way of using salt – more convenient to weigh and less messy. It gets blended with the other ingredients in any case
📖 Recipe
Equipment
- Food processor
Ingredients
- 200 g celery
- 1 zucchini/courgette
- 2 carrots
- 1 tomato
- 1 bay leaf
- small handful basil leaves (about 6g)
- small handful sage leaves (about 5g)
- small handful rosemary leaves (about 5g)
- big handful parsley leaves (about 20g)
- Chives (about 5g)
- Tablespoon whole black peppercorns
- 150 g rock salt
- Tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
- Chop Veg - roughly chop the celery, zucchini/courgette, carrots and tomato (no need to discard the core). Add to the bowl of a food processor.200 g celery1 zucchini/courgette2 carrots1 tomato
- Add Herbs - add the bay leaf, basil, sage, rosemary, parsley & chives.1 bay leafsmall handful basil leavessmall handful sage leavessmall handful rosemary leavesbig handful parsley leavesChives
- Process - until finely chopped. Scrape down the sides with a flexible spatula to make sure everything’s incorporated. Repeat blending as necessary.
- Cook - transfer the processed veg/herb mix to a heavy-based saucepan with a well-fitting lid. Add the peppercorns, rock salt and oil and stir well. Cover and cook over high heat for 15-20 minutes, stirring well every few minutes. The mixture will darken slightly and start to catch at the bottom when it gets dry enough.Tablespoon whole black peppercorns150 g rock saltTablespoon olive oil
- Process - transfer the mixture back to the food processor and process until smooth. Allow to cool slightly.
- Store - transfer stock paste to an airtight container and store in the fridge.
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