Anja’s Amazing Vegetable Stock

by | May 14, 2016

INGREDIENTS

Makes 1.5 litres

  • 300g leeks, washed and trimmed
  • 100g parsley
  • 250g carrots
  • 250g celeriac (with leaves)
  • 100g fennel (optional – or use 100g of carrots or celeriac)
  • 400g salt

This recipe comes from the brilliant ‘Do Preserve’, a freshly published book jam-packed (sorry) with cordials, pickles, jams and chutneys. As well as recipes which actually work, it is full of photos as delicious as the food itself. The three authors, Jen, Mimi and Anja, have an enviable understanding of food between them, covering everything from farming and foraging to catering and cooking.

This magic stock recipe comes from the wonderful Anja. As well as enjoying preserving things, she loves to eat Halen Môn with fresh oranges and olive oil, and posts pictures from her beautiful kitchen on instagram every day.

This salty mixture is my best friend in the kitchen. Think of it like a stock cube – great for an instant broth, fabulous in stews, soups and sauces. I grew up with my mother adding it to so many things, she grew up with her mother using it, whose mother also used it, and so it goes on for a few more generations back.

The oldest version I have is my great-grandmother’s recipe; she used parsley roots, which give a wonderful earthy flavour. I realise that not everyone has a garden full of parsley – so if you are lucky enough to have the roots, make sure you use them; if not it’s not the end of the world. I add a little fennel to my recipe these days as I like the warm aniseed flavour it gives.

Fennel

 

Put all of the vegetables into a food processor and blitz to a grainy paste. Tip into a bowl and mix in the salt. Pack tightly into sterilised jars and seal.

Store in a cool, dark place and it will keep well for up to one year. Once opened, store in the fridge and it will keep for another six months. The vegetable mix will discolour the longer it is kept but this has no impact on flavour and it is still perfectly fine to use.

Excerpt from Do Preserve: Make your own jams, chutneys, pickles & cordials by Anja Dunk, Jen Goss, Mimi Beaven. Published by Do Books, 5 May 2016. PB £8.99, Ebook £5.49

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