Vegetarian Soup Stock

Ingredients

1 large onion
2 leeks
2 carrots
8 -10 stalks celery leaf
2 tomatoes
1 head of garlic, skins removed
2 kilogram mixed vegetables such as green beans, broccoli, leafy greens, cabbage, zucchini, spinach, pok choi, any combinations work
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 bay leaves
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
10 black pepper corns
½ cup fresh basil leaves
5 liters fresh water
Sea salt to taste

Preparation

Wash all vegetables and chop them roughly.
Put the water and all ingredients in a large soup pot.
Bring to a boil and simmer for about an hour until everything is soft.
Cool the soup.
Strain into a clean bowl, mashing the veggies down in the strainer to extract all the flavor. Discard the mashed vegetables (or feed them to the dog).
Pour the stock into small plastic freezer containers, holding about 1 cup each.  Fill also one ice cube tray with the stock.
Put all in the freezer. The cubes can be tapped out and put into a zip lock bag for when you only need a tablespoon or so to add to a dish for flavor.

This stock also comes in handy any time you’d just like to have some clear nourishing broth; you can also add the yolk of an egg (bouillon), or add some tiny pasta suitable for soup, like alfabeto or risoni. Some chopped parsley on top is delicious.

Recipe by Bhagawati