Homemade Vegetable Bouillon

I don't know about you, but I use a lot of vegetable bouillon.   I rarely have the time to make a big pot of vegetable broth ahead of time, so with the start of the new year, making vegetable bouillon was on my list.  I've been saving this recipe from Jennifer Perillo's site, www.InJennieskitchen.com, since 2010.

It's really quite simple:

4 carrots, trimmed, scrubbed & cut into large pieces

3 celery ribs, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1 leek, white part only, sliced

1 small onion, peeled & quartered

10 sun-dried tomato halves

1 1/2 cups cremini mushrooms (caps & stems), cleaned & quartered

2 cloves garlic

generous handful of fresh parsley, including stems

7 ounces salt

1 teaspoon black peppercorns

Add all ingredients to the bowl of a food processor and pulse until it forms a wet paste and is well combined.  I added half the ingredients and mixed until I had the right consistency, then added the remainder.

Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator, or separate into smaller portions to store in the freezer.

To use, combine one measured teaspoon with one cup boiling water.

Jennifer reminds us:

Yes, this recipe really does need 7 ounces of salt. Remember, you're curing the vegetables, and the salt ensures they do not go rancid.