Upcycle your kitchen: Turning veggie scraps into gourmet broth
In the peels of root vegetables, there are many valuable nutrients, yet most of them usually end up in the trash. Instead, you can freeze these leftovers. Once you've gathered a sufficient amount, try cooking a vegetable broth for soup, sauce, or risotto. To ensure the broth is tasty, it's worth following a few simple rules.
Broth made from leftovers can have a deep or even more interesting flavour thanks to the addition of other vegetables not often included in standard soup packs. Everything that you painstakingly cut off during meal preparation, such as asparagus ends, tough parts of broccoli or cauliflower, or the green parts of leeks, can be added to the pot. You can also include garlic and onion skins in the broth.
How to store vegetable peels?
If you're thinking about making broth from leftovers, set aside vegetable peels as you go. Make sure they are clean. If you didn't wash the vegetables before peeling, wash the peels afterward and lay them out on a paper towel to dry. Place them in a zip-lock bag and store them in the freezer. This way, vegetable scraps can be stored for as long as 9-12 months. This applies to remnants from carrots, parsley root, celery, green beans, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and kohlrabi.
Recipe for broth from leftovers
The broth made from vegetable peels can be a great base for vegetarian soups or sauces. If you don't know what to do with any excess, you can prepare frozen flavour cubes from it. Just add fresh herbs and place them in small containers in the freezer.
Ingredients:
- 900 grams of frozen vegetable scraps,
- 2 litres of water,
- 3 bay leaves,
- 4 allspice berries,
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil,
- salt, pepper to taste.
Instructions:
- Transfer the frozen vegetable scraps to a pot, cover with water, and bring to a boil. Add bay leaves and allspice.
- Once the broth starts to boil, reduce the heat and simmer on low heat for about 1 hour.
- When the broth becomes aromatic, strain it through a fine sieve to separate the scraps. You can now discard them.
- Finally, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Ideas for dishes based on leftover broth
The aromatic vegetable broth can be used as a base for cream soups. It is excellent for cooking rice for risotto or grains for casseroles. You can add a bit of broth to pancakes, fritters, or sauces. It will make even simple dishes more flavourful and complex.
