At last: the Famous Vegan Stock Paste #wisegreenwitch

I’ve been eager to start posting recipes, combining my interest in “green” food (good for people, good for the planet) with thrifty but fun and delicious ideas for lockdown, and also hopefully helping to prevent a bit of food waste. But someone whose opinion I respect pointed out that she was finding all the social media pics of mouth-watering dishes and jolly recipes a bit insensitive, given that hunger has immediately become an acute crisis for so many. I saw this debate bubbling (courteously, for the most part) along on other pages: the general consensus, including from some pretty financially strapped families, was that food is also important as a form of connection in a time of physical distance. As well as the most urgent human need after air and water, it has a social role in sharing that can’t be discounted. Artist David Hockney, in lockdown in France at 83, announced that “The only real things in life are food and love, in that order” — according to his little dog, Ruby.

Meanwhile, there is no getting away from the exceptional morale-boosting effect that my personal superhero, Jack Monroe, is having in the UK simply by advising folk on Twitter what to do with their pantry contents (follow her on @bootstrapchef or #lockdownlarder). It’s not just clever combos: she tells people when they can and can’t ignore sell-by dates, how to check supplies for contamination, safety precautions (I had forgotten that dried kidney beans have to be boiled for at least 20 mins to prevent them from causing food poisoning). She’s protecting the health of families and keeping tons of food out of rubbish bins in a nation that’s taking a hammering. It’s a shocker that middle-class families have to be taught to cook, but then late capitalism has drowned us in those poxy over-packaged “ready meals”, rendering us helpless and wasteful. This is an opportunity to change that, for good.

So I hope there’s value to my idea of sharing larder contents to get ideas for dishes that are tasty, easy to make, and won’t leave you looking as if you spent lockdown in a darkened cupboard. I made Stalwart Sister and Delightful Niece send me a list of all their pantry staples and condiments, and a highlight of each day is concocting them a meal from these ingredients, which also means that Niece is learning to cook new dishes. It’s a lovely way of being “in their lives” while we’re apart.

But let’s please, please continue donating as much as we can to the now significant movement across the country to get food parcels to those who need them most. Please post details of your preferred means of donating in the comments: today, mine is the heroic PHA initiative: click here for details,

But first (bring on the trumpets): how to make the vegan stock paste I have been promising forever: an excellent way of using up any veg you panic-bought that is starting to look a bit droopy or gnarled.

I created this after much internet research because I needed a vegan stock that was hearty enough for punchy stews (like this one) or soups like minestrone, but also delicate enough not to overwhelm a risotto or creamy soup. (You can of course use this in any savoury dish, meat, fish, you name it. But I wanted that umami tang that often goes missing in vegetarian food, and which can’t always be replaced with a teaspoon of Marmite or splash of soy sauce.) The other trouble is that almost all manufactured veg stock tastes to me of celery, celery, celery and salt. I HATE cooked celery. It bullies out all the other flavours.

So here we go, the absolute rock-bottom basics. As a minimum, you will need one huge onion, two big carrots, a cup of loosely chopped or torn fresh herbs, half a head of garlic, a third to a half a cup of salt (more salt, and it keeps longer, but the flavours are less subtle), and the juice and zest of one big lemon. The herbs change all the time (I've used thyme, rosemary, sage, winter savory, basil, lemon grass, za'atar, garlic chives, parsley, marjoram, oregano — I tend to throw in the more robust herbs at the blending stage, and leafier ones like mint, basil, lovage and Italian parsley, finely chopped, right at the end of the simmering stage). To these cleaned and peeled veg, you can add: fennel (both the fresh bulb and the dried seeds — check first, some people dislike the anise/liquorice taste), leeks, spring onions, radishes, a small turnip or parsnip … to ring the changes, I’ve also tried this with the juice and zest of an orange (this is grand with fresh sage).

Once your blender jug is full, add just enough water to enable the blades to blitz the veggies to a fine mince. Now put a good glug of oil (I use olive or coconut oil, but any will do — just not butter or marge) in a heavy-bottomed pan and saute the veggie paste very, very slowly on low heat, stirring continuously, sweating out as much liquid as possible. It will slowly turn into this grainy paste, and should eventually be thick enough to stand a spoon in — it takes about 30-40 minutes, but I sometimes do it for an hour. Cool, spoon into a spotlessly clean jar, and refrigerate. Mine lasts months in the fridge, but to be safe, rather divvy into small portions and freeze, then defrost as needed. Use a heaped teaspoon wherever you would normally use a stock cube.

Other variations: chuck in a punnet of mushrooms for mushroom stock, half a cup of soaked sun-dried tomatoes or a small tin of tomato paste, a bag of fresh green beans. (Pick one of these options: they’re all quite robust, so use for heartier dishes.) You can do an Asian version: basic mix to which you add lemon grass, coriander/dhanya, green chillies, basil, extra garlic, juice and zest of a lime. Amounts don’t matter too much, which makes this a very good way of using up stuff. I often add kale, spinach or chard. (No one has complained, yet.) Oh, and rocket. SO much rocket (which forms half my veg-bed output). My favourite is my basic one, with lots of herbs, but I add an entire preserved lemon. The results are faint-worthy.

Here’s an extra idea from Jack, so good I have to share: if you have a bag of fresh salad that’s looking a bit sorry for itself, pick out any vrot/liquefying bits, wash/wipe the remains, and visit Jack’s website here for a brilliant solution: salad-bag pesto.

Nog ‘n piep: if you have any neighbourhood shops, market farms or food stands open nearby, and you have to venture out for supplies, support them rather than the big supermarkets right now. Small businesses are nose-diving everywhere we look — help if you can. Obviously, do your homework: find out if they’re open and when, what their hygiene and distancing measures are, and what they would like you to bring in terms of packaging, etc. I’d rather supermarkets used their resources (refrigerated trucks, depots, staff, etc) to deliver food to townships — looks like this is happening in some parts of the country. Once again, check online to see how you can be part of these initiatives.