This Mother's Day, we thought we'd share an easy-to-make, easy-to-digest, nourishing vegetable broth as a comforting, warm staple to have in the kitchen. Homemade vegetable broths taste100 times better than store bought versions and can be used for cooking a variety of dishes that require a broth of some sort. They are also super nourishing, full of minerals, anti-oxidants, and disease-fighting anti-inflammatory components, gentle on the stomach, and excellent for those who are recovering from illness or suffering from weak digestion. This recipe comes from Gennaro Contaldo's Slow Cook Italian cookbook but can be adapted according to whatever leftover vegetable scraps you have on hand. You can even add in some chicken bones to make it into a nourishing chicken broth!
This recipe makes about 4 cups of broth.
Ingredients
1 onion, peeled
1 courgette (zucchini)
1 carrot
1 celery stalk with leaves
1 leek
1 potato, peeled
2 cherry tomatoes
a handful of parsley, including stalks
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 1 tsp sea salt
Roughly chop all the ingredients and put in a large saucepan. Add 1½ quarts/6 cups water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover with a lid and simmer gently for 1 and 1/4 hours (or longer if making chicken bone broth). Taste for seasoning and add more salt if necessary.
Remove from the heat and strain the broth through a fine sieve, pressing down well on the vegetables with the back of a spoon. Serve hot, or reheat, adding some small pasta shapes to cook in the broth if you like.
Enjoy and tell us what you think!