The only stock that is ready in three-quarters of an hour and that everyone at the table can eat. Vegetarian guests are no longer an afterthought: a good vegetable stock is the difference between a proper vegetarian sauce and warm seasoned water.
Vegetable stock
Fond de légumes
Vegetable stock
Fond de légumes
Method
01
Sweat
Melt the butter or oil in a large pan and sweat the leek, onion, fennel, carrot and celery for 10 minutes over a low heat without colour. Colour is not the aim here: you want freshness, not caramel.
02
Add
Add the mushrooms, the tomato and the cold water.
03
Simmer
Bring to just below boiling and leave to simmer gently for 30 minutes with the thyme, bay leaf and parsley stalks.
04
Infuse
Take off the heat, add the peppercorns and leave, covered, for another 15 minutes. Pepper belongs in only briefly: cooking it makes it harsh.
05
Strain
Strain without pressing. Pressing makes the stock cloudy and earthy.
Tips & notes
Leave cabbage, broccoli, beetroot and peppers out of this stock: cabbage turns sulphurous, beetroot colours everything pink and peppers dominate everything. Mushrooms, leek and fennel, on the other hand, give the umami and sweetness you are looking for. Keeps for 3–4 days in the fridge, and freezes very well (up to 3 months); the flavour often deepens further the next day.
Chef's tip
Want more body without meat? Add a piece of kombu (5 g) and a handful of dried porcini: glutamic acid from kombu and guanylate from dried mushrooms reinforce each other and give a savoury depth that otherwise only comes from bones.
Variations
- Umami stock – With kombu and dried porcini, the vegetarian replacement for veal jus.
- Roasted vegetable stock – Roast the vegetables first at 220 °C for a dark, vegetarian brown stock.
- Court-bouillon – Add wine and vinegar and use the liquid to poach fish.
Contains:
Milk
Celery
Serve with
- Vegetarian sauces
- Risotto
- Vegetable velouté
- Couscous
- Poaching vegetables
| Calories | 67 kcal |
|---|---|
| Protein | 2 g |
| Carbohydrates | 13 g |
| Fat | 2 g |
| Fibre | 5 g |
Estimated values, calculated from standard nutritional values per ingredient.
