Emergency Vegetable Stock

This is my 'Emergency vegetable stock'. By this I mean that you have a dinner in mind, you're just about to start cooking and realise you have no stock. This recipe will pull you out of a hole and in less than 15 minutes! Even better, this stock is fresh and won't have the additives and salt levels that bought stock cubes have.

MAKES 1 LITRE OF STOCK

Ingredients

1 carrot

1 onion

2 stalks of celery

1 fat clove of garlic, peeled

Method

• Grate the carrot, onion and celery. Mince the garlic and tear or finely shred the bay leaf.

• Pour some oil into a medium saucepan and add all the ingredients and gently sweat for 3–4 minutes over a medium heat.

• Pour a litre of water into the saucepan and turn the heat up full to bring to the boil and then reduce to a simmer for 5 minutes.

• Strain through a sieve and voilà – you have an instant stock to add to your recipe!