Make your own, healthy version of the seasoning at the heart of Eastern European dishes.
It might not look very impressive, but this all-purpose seasoning packs a punch! A blend of salt and dried vegetables, it's used to enhance the taste in everything from soups and stews to sauces and salad dressings.
It takes a while to make as you need to dehydrate the vegetables in the oven (16 hours to be exact!), but it's not a complicated recipe. It is used sparingly in dishes, so will last you for a long time. And, compared to the store-bought versions, you know exactly what goes in it - no additives here!
Enjoy!
homemade vegeta
makes 1x 500g portion
Ingredients
For dehydrating in the oven:
carrots - 500g
parsnips - 200g
celeriac - 500g
onions - 500g
potatoes - 200g
red bell peppers - 500g
Note: quantities above are after peeling the vegetables
To finish:
salt - 200g
ground nutmeg - 1 tbsp
dried parsley - 2 tbsp
corn starch - 1 tbsp
Method
1. Mince all the vegetables. Put them in a cheesecloth (or a cloth kitchen towel) and squeeze well.
2. Put a sieve over a bowl and put the cheesecloth with the vegetables in the sieve. Store overnight in the fridge.
3. Next day in the morning, preheat the oven to 60C (convection). Remove the cheesecloth from the fridge and squeeze it well to get as much remaining moisture out as possible.
4. Spread the vegetables on a large baking sheet or tray and put it in the oven. The vegetables need 16 hours in the oven to dry, so you need to be patient!
5. Once the vegetables are dried, blend them very well until they resemble a powder.
6. Mix the powder with the salt, nutmeg, parsley and corn starch and store the seasoning in a jar.
Use as you want to enhance the flavour of dishes like soups, stews, sauces, salad dressings, etc!
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