Homemade vegetable stock is easy to make and so much healthier and tastier  than anything that you can buy in a supermarket. This is my recipe to make a good vegetable stock to enrich the flavour of any soup, risotto or stew.

There is no seasoning added because you are probably using the stock as an additional ingredient in another recipe and you want to be able to easily control how salty the final dish is.

Serves 1 l of vegetable stock

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil

1  clove of garlic, slightly crushed

1 large onions, halved

2 stalks of celery, including some leaves, chopped

2 large carrots, chopped

1 courgette, diced

2 potatoes, diced

4-5 cherry tomatoes, halved

1 little bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley

1 bay leaves

1.5 l of cold water

METHOD

Peel all the vegetables (the courgette doesn’t need to be peeled) and chop them. In a large saucepan heat the extra virgin olive oil on a medium heat, add the onion and garlic and sauté  for a few minutes.

Add the celery, the carrots, the courgette, the potatoes, the tomatoes and sweat for a few minutes.

Add the water along with the bay leaf and the parsley, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer, for 35- 40 minutes, skimming the surface if necessary.

Remove from the heat, pour through a strainer into another large pot or container.

Cool and then refrigerate for up to 3 days. Use the stock as required.

TEMPTING TIPS

An easy way to freeze it without taking up too much space is to reduce the stock by half boiling it vigorously. Once it’s cooled pour it in to ice-cube trays and carefully place them in to your freezer. When frozen put the cubes into a plastic bag.  Before using it just put some cubes in a jug and add boiling water to dissolve them.

Instead of discarding the vegetables used to make your stock, place them in a blender and mix them. Warm them up in a saucepan, season with some salt and serve with a handful Parmesan cheese, freshly grated, a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and some croutons.