Concentrated Vegetable Stock Paste [vegetarian]

I like soups very much. They are - in general - healthy, low calorie and comforting. And everybody will find at least a few favorite ones as there are so many types of soups. However, despite this huge variety, all of them have at least one common denominator – stock.

When you have time, you can prepare good quality stock earlier and then use it for your soups. But what if you don’t have time? You can use stock cubes although this is certainly not the healthiest option. There are plenty of hydrogenated fats in them, which are very bad for us. But luckily, if you get the ingredients (see below) and you have about an hour free, you can make your own ‘stock cubes’ or rather concentrated stock paste that kept in a tight jar in a fridge, will last you a few months.

I have to confess that in the past when I was in a rush, I would use stock cubes myself. I liked them for their immediacy and their taste. So when I started making and using this concentrated stock paste, the taste was my major issue: it was not bad, it was… unfamiliar! There are various flavor enhancers included in industrial made stock cubes and obviously I neither could nor would like to use them. Therefore I decided to substitute them with a more natural one – soya sauce – that ads this desirable ‘pleasant savory taste’ – umami. So I think the below combination and proportions of ingredients work really well and you will end up having a high quality, healthy and instant homemade concentrated stock paste.

INGREDIENTS (for approx. two 330ml jars):

250g carrots, peeled,

40g parsnip, peeled,

40g celeriac, peeled,

80g leak,

40g cabbage,

80g onion, peeled,

1 garlic clove, peeled

140g tomato,

1 bay leaf,

4 parsnip sprigs,

2 handfuls of fresh herbs (leaves only from basil, sage, etc.),

200g coarse sea salt,

35g white wine,

3 tbsp olive oil,

2 tbsp light soya sauce,

50g grated Parmesan cheese.

METHOD:

1. Cut all the vegetables into pieces and put them to a kitchen processor; add the herbs and process till everything is almost liquidized.
2. Transfer to a heavy bottomed pot, add the salt, wine, olive oil and soya sauce, stir and bring to boil on a medium heat.
3. Decrease the temperature to low, cover the pot with a lid and cook for 20 minutes stirring occasionally.
4. Take off the lid and cook for 10 minutes more, remembering to stir every now and then.
5. Increase the temperature to high and cook stirring often for 10 minutes (towards the end of the cooking time you may have to stir the mixture all the time to prevent it from burning). You want all the liquid to evaporate and end up with a dry pulp.
6. Add the grated Parmesan cheese, stir and transfer everything to the processor; liquidize till everything is very well combined.
7. Put the prepared pulp to a sterilized jars and keep in a fridge for up to 3-4 months.
8. To make stock use 2 tsp for 0.5l of water.