Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large stockpot or heavy saucepan (at least 4 litres)
• •Fine mesh sieve
• •Ladle
• •Storage containers or freezer-safe jars

Instructions

1. 1

   Rough-chop the vegetables

   Get a big pot out. The vegetables don't need to be pretty. Rough chunks are fine, small enough to fit in the pan, large enough that they won't disintegrate into mush. Keep the onion skins on. They're what gives the stock its golden colour, and throwing them away is the kind of tidy habit that costs you flavour.

   This is the place for the ends and offcuts you've been saving through the week. A leek top, a handful of parsley stalks, the fennel fronds from Saturday's market. Anything clean and fresh goes in. Nothing slimy, nothing bitter. Use your nose.
2. 2

   Sweat the vegetables gently

   Warm a splash of olive oil in the pot over a medium heat. Tip in the onions, leek, carrots, and celery. Stir them through the oil and let them sweat for eight or ten minutes. You're not trying to brown them, just coax them. When the onions have softened and the kitchen starts to smell like the beginning of something, you're ready for the next step. A little colour on the edges is fine. A lot isn't.

3. 3

   Add aromatics and water

   Drop in the halved head of garlic, cut side down. Add the parsley, thyme, bay, peppercorns, and salt. Pour the cold water over everything. Cold water, not boiling. You want the flavour to come out slowly as the water heats, not be locked in by a sudden plunge into a hot pot. Bring it gently up to a bare simmer.

4. 4

   Simmer slowly

   Once it's bubbling quietly, turn the heat down so the surface barely moves. Let it go for forty-five minutes. No lid, or only slightly ajar. A hard boil will cloud the stock and give you something grey and tired. A slow simmer gives you gold. The kitchen will start to smell properly vegetal and sweet, a bit like a good soup before it becomes one.

   Resist the urge to keep stirring. A stock wants to be left alone. Skim any foam that rises to the top in the first ten minutes, then leave it be.
5. 5

   Strain and taste

   Set a sieve over a large bowl or a second pan. Ladle the stock through, pressing the vegetables gently with the back of a spoon to coax out the last of the liquid. Don't crush them. Gentle pressure only. You'll get about 1.5 litres of clean, amber stock. Taste it. It should taste quietly of everything you put in, balanced, a little sweet from the onions and carrots, herbal from the parsley and thyme. If it tastes thin, simmer it for another ten minutes to concentrate. If it tastes right, stop.

6. 6

   Cool and store

   Let the stock cool to room temperature before you put it in the fridge. It'll keep for four days in a covered jar, or three months in the freezer. I freeze mine in different sizes: a few big containers for soups and stews, some smaller ones for when a risotto needs a ladleful, an ice cube tray for when a pan sauce wants a splash. Label them. You'll think you'll remember. You won't.

Chef Tips

• •Keep a bag in the freezer for stock scraps. Onion ends, leek tops, carrot peelings, parsley stalks, the woody ends of asparagus, mushroom stems. When the bag is full, you have a stock waiting to happen. This is the quiet economy of a good kitchen.
• •Avoid the brassicas. Cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts. They'll turn your stock sulphurous and bitter, and there's no saving it. Same goes for anything starchy: potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash. They cloud the liquid and dull the flavour.
• •Salt lightly at this stage. You don't know yet what the stock is going to become. A salted stock that gets reduced for a sauce will end up too salty to use. Better to season properly at the end of whatever dish it's feeding.
• •If you want a deeper, more savoury stock, roast the vegetables first. Spread them on a tray with a splash of oil and give them thirty minutes in a hot oven until the edges go dark and sticky. It's a different kind of stock: richer, browner, better for a dark gravy or a mushroom soup. Worth knowing about.

Advance Preparation

• •Stock keeps in a covered container in the fridge for up to four days.
• •Freezes beautifully for up to three months. Portion it into different sizes: large tubs for soups and stews, smaller ones for risottos, an ice cube tray for pan sauces and deglazing.
• •Label and date everything. Frozen stock all looks the same in six weeks, and you'll thank yourself for the small effort.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 250g)