Roasted Vegetable Stock
MAKES: 3 quarts
TIME: About 2 hours, largely unattended
Roasting the vegetables first to brown them well adds a complex family of flavors that you don’t get otherwise. And if you use leeks in place of onions and add a few other ingredients not included in the preceding recipes, you wind up with something really fine. Because this is significantly more work than the other stocks, I double the quantity; it’s not something you are likely to make at the last minute, so you might as well make enough for a couple of occasions. You can, of course, halve the quantities if you like.
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 well-washed leeks, cut into chunks, or 2 large onions, quartered (don’t bother to peel)
4 carrots, cut into chunks
2 celery stalks, cut into chunks
1 parsnip, cut into chunks (optional)
2 potatoes, quartered
6 cloves garlic
15 to 20 white mushrooms, halved or sliced
A small bunch of parsley leaves, plus 10 sprigs 2 or 3 sprigs fresh thyme
1/4 cup soy sauce, or more to taste
10 black peppercorns
1/2 cup white wine
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
01 Preheat the oven to 450°F. Combine the oil, leeks, carrots, celery, parsnip, potatoes, garlic, and mushrooms in a large roasting pan; stir to coat all the vegetables with oil. Put the pan in the oven and roast, shaking the pan occasionally and turning the ingredients once or twice, until everything is nicely browned. This will take about 45 minutes; don’t rush it.
02 Use a slotted spoon to scoop the roasted vegetables into a stockpot; add the herbs, 1/4 cup soy sauce, pepper-corns, wine, salt to taste, and 2 quarts water. Turn the heat to high. Meanwhile, put the roasting pan over a burner on high heat and add 2 to 4 cups water, depending on the depth of the pan. Bring it to a boil and cook, scraping off all the bits of food that have stuck to the bottom. Pour this mixture into the stockpot (along with 2 more cups water if you used only 2 cups for deglazing).
03 Bring to a boil, then partially cover and adjust the heat so the mixture sends up a few bubbles at a time. Cook until the vegetables are very soft, 30 to 45 minutes. Strain, pressing on the vegetables to extract as much juice as possible. Taste and add more soy sauce, salt, or ground pepper if necessary before using or storing.
