World's Greatest Vegetable Broth
This makes a broth that is slightly thick with a rich color and full flavor. The broth can be frozen in one or one and a half cup blocks for later use. This recipe also leaves you with a bowl full of delicious cooked vegetables, I love to snack on them cold.
This makes a broth that is slightly thick with a rich color and full flavor. The broth can be frozen in one or one and a half cup blocks for later use. This recipe also leaves you with a bowl full of delicious cooked vegetables, I love to snack on them cold.
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 bay leaf
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 gallon water
- 3 whole cloves
- 1 pound celery
- 1 1/2 pounds sweet onions
- 1 pound carrots cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1 pound tomatoes cored
- 1 pound green bell pepper cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1/2 pound turnips cubed
- 6 whole black peppercorns
- 1 bunch fresh parsley chopped
- Carbohydrate 51.8130455812019 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 6.2795422582469 g
- Fiber 14.1488486340294 g
- Protein 7.50819508613846 g
- Saturated Fat 1.19064496398592 g
- Serving Size 1 1 quart (3283g)
- Sodium 317.079984113589 mg
- Sugar 37.6641969471726 g
- Trans Fat 1.05086782083416 g
- Calories 264 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
- Remove leaves and tender inner parts of celery and set aside.
- Toss onions, carrots, tomatoes, bell peppers and turnips with olive oil. Place vegetables in a roasting pan and place them in the 450 degrees F (230 degrees C) oven. Stir the vegetable every 15 minutes. Cook until all of the vegetables have browned and the onions start to caramelize, this will take over one hour.
- Put the browned vegetables, celery, garlic, cloves, bay leaf, pepper corns, Italian parsley and water into a large stock pot. Bring to a full boil. Reduce heat to simmer. Cook uncovered until liquid is reduced by half.
- Pour the broth through a colander, catching the broth in a large bowl or pot. The liquid caught in the bowl or pot is your vegetable broth it can be used immediately or stored for later use. Although the vegetables are no longer necessary for your broth they are delicious to eat hot or cold, don't waste them!
The Roasting Imperative
Raw roots yield watery liquid. Roasting at 450 degrees Fahrenheit triggers Maillard reactions across the surface of onions, carrots, and peppers. Toss the vegetables in olive oil to conduct heat evenly across the roasting pan. Stir every 15 minutes to prevent burning. Pull the pan only when onions reach a dark caramelized brown.
Substitution Consequences
Swapping root vegetables alters starch density and balance. Replace turnips with parsnips at a strict one-to-one ratio. Omit green bell peppers entirely if bitterness dominates your palate, but expect a thinner body. Tomatoes provide crucial natural glutamates that mimic meat-based stocks. Never substitute canned tomatoes for fresh ones here; their added sodium and citric acid ruin the reduction.
The Reduction Rule
Simmer the stockpot uncovered until the volume drops by exactly half. This concentrates the sugars released by the roasted alliums. Strain through a fine-mesh colander into a large pot. Cool the finished liquid rapidly before storing it in sealed containers within the refrigerator for up to four days.
