I have been wanting to make an umami rich mushroom based stock to use in sauces as well as vegetarian based stews for awhile. I dislike vegetarian options that leave my recipes yellow in color. Even my homemade vegetable stock recipe is not yellow. I use a lot of mushrooms when I want to add that meaty flavor that I get with vegetarian recipes. This recipe is made with two types of fresh mushrooms along with dried porcini mushrooms to add extra depth to the stock. This mushroom stock turned out even better than I thought it would and fulfilled all my expectations.
All of my homemade stock recipe even my vegetable based one require a little extra time as well as love, and this recipe is no different. Don’t expect to boil up some vegetables like most vegetarian stock recipes, and call it day. There is roasting involved and then some simmer time on the stove. The reward is a pot of umami flavorful mushroom stock that will be great to use in a variety of winter recipes.
I used three kinds of mushrooms, cremini, shiitake, and dried porcini. Each mushroom adds a little more depth to the recipe, and I think of it as laying flavors. I roasted the shiitake mushrooms alongside onions, carrots, and celery, as I do for all of my meat-based stocks. Roasting before simmering adds so much more flavor while adding that deep dark, rich color to the finished recipe.
After roasting I moved onto making the stock by cooking the cremini mushrooms along with the roasted ones until caramelized, then I added aromatics, along with a little tomato paste, miso, and water, Simmering all the flavors together for some time creates all the magic, don’t try to rush it. This is the love part of the recipe that makes all the difference.
The end result is a very flavorful and rich mushroom stock that can be used in stews, soups, sauces, or any recipe that calls for stock or broth. I have used this recipe in gravies as well as stroganoff and everyone is always surprised there is no meat as it is that flavorful.
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Rich Mushroom Stock
Roasting the mushrooms until caramelized adds an earthiness as well as depth of flavor to this rich mushroom stock. When used in a vegetarian gravy or even French onion soup, no one can believe it isn't meat based.
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 ounces shiitake mushrooms, cleaned and cut into quarters
- a yellow onion - the one I used was 9 ounces, peeled and quartered
- 1 large stalk celery, rough chopped
- 1 large carrot, rough chopped
- 8 ounces cremini mushrooms, cleaned and cut into thick slices
- 3/4 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon white miso
- .50 ounces dried porcini mushrooms, soak in 1 cup of warm water for 20 minutes
- 1 bay leave
- 6 sprigs fresh thyme
- 7 cups of water
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 425.
Place the shiitake mushrooms, onion, celery, carrot, and 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a large dutch oven. Stir to combine. Roast for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. DO NOT LET anything burn. If this starts to happen the oven may be too hot, lower the heat. Everything should be caramelized and very fragrant.
Remove from the oven and place onto the stovetop over medium-low heat.
Add the cremini mushrooms to the dutch oven and pour the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive into the mixture and stir to mix. Cook over low heat until caramelized; about 15 minutes. Stir often to prevent burning or sticking.
Add the tomato paste and miso, stir to mix. Pour in the dried mushrooms along with the water they soaked in. Add the bay leave, thyme, and 7 cups of water and stir. Simmer over low heat for 1 1/2 hours.
Season with salt and pepper.
Use as you would any other stock.