Recipes

Vegetable broth

How to make homemade vegetable broth: the simple and perfect recipe to use for many different dishes.

Today we make a delicious vegetable broth, quick, simple and really good! There are some secrets and techniques for a tasty and perfect result, and you can use many different types of vegetables, depending on your needs and… what we have left over in the fridge!

The three key elements are onions, carrots and celery, but many other vegetables can be added based on seasonality. Courgettes, potatoes, tomatoes, leeks and even aromatic herbs are fine. And if you want a grandmother's trick , you can also insert a parmesan crust inside, which will give an ideal flavor if you have to use it for a tasty soup or risotto!

How to make vegetable broth

First, take care of the vegetables. Peel and cut the onion in half, wash and cut the celery into small pieces, peel and cut the ends of the carrot. If you use tomatoes, wash them and leave them whole .
Place all the vegetables in a pan, then add the peppercorns and a bunch of aromatic herbs to taste (we chose a bay leaf).
The first rule for a perfect broth is to start with cold water. Then fill the pot until the vegetables are completely covered (you will need about 2 liters of water) and place it on the heat.
Leave on the heat for at least 60 minutes after boiling , remembering to lower the heat as soon as it starts to boil and cover with the lid.
Once ready, turn off the heat, filter the broth and add the salt.

If you no longer want to have secrets, find out how to prepare a wonderful meat broth !

Tasty vegetable broth: the variant

If you want to make your vegetable broth even tastier, try an extra step!

Before adding the water , brown the vegetable pieces in the pan with a drizzle of oil, so that they release all their flavour.
When they are well browned, deglaze with wine vinegar or water to really extract all the flavour.
Only now can you fill the pan with cold water and bring to the boil.

And here's how to do it, without making any mistakes, with a very quick video :

How to use vegetable broth

You can use the broth you have prepared for first courses such as soups or risottos, but also to thin sauces, side dishes, to cook meat, fish or other foods. Its aromas and flavor will enhance the food and you will immediately notice the difference compared to ready-made ones!

The secret is just using it correctly: so our advice, if you don't use it right away, is to not make mistakes with some simple techniques.

Let it cool completely before placing it in the fridge, as well as in the freezer. If you are short on time, you can also immerse the pot with the broth in the sink, filled with cold water.
If you store it in the fridge, use containers with a special lid (better if airtight)
If you freeze it, however, we recommend leaving a few millimeters of space from the edge (1 or 2 is enough), in fact the liquid will expand when it turns into a solid state.

Conservation

You can store the well-filtered broth in the fridge, in a special container with a lid, for 4-5 days . Alternatively you can store it in the freezer for 3-4 months , we recommend portioning it into the appropriate ice cube molds so that it is easier to use.

How to use cooked vegetables so you don't throw them away

The vegetables in the vegetable broth should not be thrown away , on the contrary! They can be enjoyed as a side dish , simply seasoned with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Alternatively, you can blend them, adding a little hot water and thus you will obtain an excellent vegetable puree to be enriched with a drizzle of good oil and some well-toasted croutons.

On the contrary, here is another way to transform the preparation of vegetable broth into an excellent empty fridge (in this case freezer) recipe. In fact, if you have some vegetables left over from preparing other recipes, we recommend cutting them into pieces , placing them in a food bag and storing them in the freezer: so you can use them when necessary to prepare homemade vegetable broth.