Oh my, but I love having home-made veggie stock in the house. Yay, to another set of additives deleted down here!
This golden, gloopy sludge is actually the #1 reason our little family lashed out and bought a Thermomix! Who would have thought I would lust so badly for such a dubious looking bowl of paste?
And yes, lordy yes, it is super easy in the Thermomix: granted, given, can’t live without mine .. until, that is, I HAD to .. eek! My just past summer in France (that ooh-la-la tale coming one day very soon) meant I had to find us all another way .. shhh! nobody tell Gav! 😉
VEGETABLE STOCK PASTE
THERMOMIX or THERMOMIX-FREE
Recipe adapted from Thermomix Everyday Cookbook
MAKES: 800g PREP TIME: 5 or 10 mins COOK TIME: 25 or 55 mins
one tablespoon per 500ml = 1 stock cube
add to everything savoury for flavourful goodness
INGREDIENTS
200g celery stalks and leaves, chopped roughly
2-3 carrots, chopped roughly
1 onion, brown or red, peeled and halved
1 tomato, halved
1 zucchini, chopped roughly
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1 bay leaf
2 sprigs fresh basil
2 sprigs fresh sage
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
8 sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 teaspoon nori flakes or 1/2 sheet of sushi nori
90g rock salt (can use 150g for no-freeze stock paste)*
1 tablespoon olive oil
THERMOMIX METHOD
Place all in TMX except salt and oil and chop 10 sec/speed 6. Scrape down.
Add salt and oil and cook 20 min/Varoma/speed 1.
Blend 1 min/speed 9 (increase speed 1-9 gradually) until a smooth paste consistency.
Cool slightly and pot.
* I can’t help but reduce the salt, so I divide the big batch into smaller usable portions and freeze them. My “in-use” batch sits quite happily in the fridge over the 2-3 weeks it takes me to finish it, so I guess my salt ratio is still enough to preserve the vege. And I just love the warm and fuzzy I get from knowing I have a stockpile in the freezer .. gotta love a pantry, right?
NB If you keep the full 150g of salt then it is said to be good for 2 months in the fridge in an airtight container.
THERMOMIX-FREE METHOD
Add olive oil to bottom of a large & heavy-based casserole or other pot with lid.
Roughly chop all ingredients and add to this pot.
Add salt and stir through for a minute or so that the vegetables start to release their juices.
Cook on a low heat for 45-50 mins with the lid on but slightly ajar. You want to have the vege sweat but also start slowly evaporating the juices. Your vege should be relatively juiceless at the end of the cooking time. If not take the lid off and give it a few more minutes.
Depending on your cooktop’s reliability, stir from time to time to avoid the vege catching.**
Allow to cool slightly and then blend .. by any means .. until smooth.
Store and use as above.
**Tip – Making the stock concentrate while you multi-task e.g. dinner makes the regular stir less of a why-bother factor. 😉
Bon appétit, mes amies .. xoxo
Ooh-la-la .. our deep, green, gift in the Burgundy borders coming soon!
Can I ask what you use the paste for? Just bought myself a Thermomix and going to make this recipe! xx
Goodness, Kristy! A late reply to say anything you would normally pop a stock cube in you would use a tablespoon of the paste! Sorry for missing this! 🙂