Brown Vegetable Stock
Ingredients
- 2 mediumeggplants, cut into chunks
- 1 cupcauliflower florets
- 1 cupchopped carrots
- 2 mediumyellow onions, roughly chopped
- ½ cupchopped celery
- ½ cupbroccoli florets
- ½ cupchopped beets
- ½ cupshiitake mushrooms
- 1 headgarlic (12 to 16 cloves)
- 2 tablespoonstomato paste
- ½ cupolive oil
- 12-by-2-inch strip kombu
- 1 tablespoonsea salt
- ½ cuparrowroot powder, for thickening (optional)
Method
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Spread the vegetables and garlic in a large roasting pan.
- In a small bowl, combine the tomato paste and olive oil. Pour the mixture over the vegetables and toss to coat.
- Bake the vegetables for 45 minutes, stirring and rotating every 15 to 20 minutes to prevent the edges from burning. Transfer the vegetables to a saucepan, add the kombu along with 3 quarts of water, stir, and simmer for 30 to 45 minutes.
- Working in batches, ladle the mixture into a fine-mesh strainer set over a large pot. Gently press on the vegetables with the ladle or a silicone spatula to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard the solids.
- Cook the stock over medium heat until it reduces by half, 1 ½ to 2 hours. Stir in the salt.
- If you would like a thicker stock with a jam-like consistency, whisk together the optional arrowroot with ½ cup water in a small bowl. Slowly whisk this slurry into the stock and heat it until the stock coats the back of a spoon.
- When the stock has cooled, transfer it to storage containers and use as needed.
Notes
Grab a large pot and your largest roasting pan for this recipe! This stock adds flavor and nutrients to soups and sauces. If you like, use an arrowroot slurry to thicken it and reduce the cooking time. Feel free to omit eggplant if you're sensitive to vegetables in the nightshade family. The stock can be refrigerated for one week or frozen for three months.