Vegetable pot au feu a delicious, one-pot feast

One-pot meals are popular throughout the world. They are more substantial than soup, not as rich or thick as stews and many can be enjoyed in two courses, as they are in France with both pot au feu and bouillabaisse.

New England has its boiled dinners, Italy has bollito misto, Eastern Europe and Russia excel at borscht and Vietnam has its pho, a wildly flavorful dish of noodles, vegetables, meats, seafood and an array of vegetable toppings and condiments.

Mexico’s posole and menudo fit right into this category, and there are dozens of similar dishes throughout South America, including locro, which includes squash, corn and chorizo. All are meant to be the main part of a meal, not a first course, as soup typically is.

Most one-pot meals get their abundance of flavor from meat, but with interest in vegetarian and vegan diets at an all-time high, it’s good to know how to make flavorful versions in other ways. The best approach is to use a good vegetable stock as a foundation. The most flavorful versions are made in a home kitchen; commercial options are almost always out of balance and disappointing.

Today’s dish is a great way to get more vegetables into your diet. Once you’ve made this, it can last for several days, especially if you are feeding just yourself and another person. Flavors improve for a day or two after you’ve made it, and if you simply can’t eat it all before it goes off, you can freeze it for a few weeks.

This dish is flexible, but ingredients should be seasonal. You can use broccoli or white cauliflower in place of romanesco cauliflower. You can add golden beets (peeled and quartered and added with the turnips). You also can use any braising green, from turnip, beet or radish leaves to chard or spinach, instead of kale. For the more tender leaves, add them during the final 10 minutes of cooking. If you like, replace some of the potatoes with peeled and cubed celery root.

Vegetable Pot au Feu

Makes 6 to 8 servings

6 cups vegetable stock, recipe follows

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 yellow onion, trimmed and cut into thin rounds

Kosher salt

1 bunch Lacinato kale, rinsed

2 bay leaves

2 thyme sprigs

2 Italian parsley sprigs

1 teaspoon whole white peppercorns

2 medium parsnips, trimmed, peeled and cut diagonally into 1-inch pieces

1 bunch (8 to 10) very small turnips, trimmed

1½ pounds very small potatoes, sometimes called creamers, washed

¾ pound carrots, see Note below

3 or 4 thin leeks, white and pale green parts only, in 1-inch lengths, well cleaned

2 fennel bulbs, trimmed and cut into thin rounds

1 garlic bulb, cloves separated and peeled

1 whole Romanesco cauliflower, inner core removed, broken or cut into individual florets

1 pound small button mushrooms, cleaned

Italian-style Salsa Verde (recipe follows)

Black pepper in a mill

2020 Olio Nuovo

Hearth bread, preferably sourdough, hot

Butter

First, make the stock; this can be done a day before completing the recipe. Set it aside and, if made in advance, refrigerate it until ready to use.

Pour the olive oil into a large soup pot set over medium-low heat, add the onion and sauté it gently until it is soft and fragrant, about 7 to 8 minutes.

While the onion cooks, cut the stems from the kale leaves, cut them into very thin rounds and add them to the onions. Season with salt and continue to cook until the stems soften. Cut the leaves into 1-inch-wide crosswise strips and set them aside.

Pour the stock into the pot and add the bay, thyme, parsley and peppercorns. Add the parsnips to the pot. If the turnips are bigger than a quarter, cut them in half and add them to the pot, along with the potatoes and the carrots.

Bring to a boil, reduce the heat so the liquid simmers very gently and cook for about 15 minutes, until the vegetable begin to soften; time will vary based on size.

Add the leeks, fennel, garlic, Romanesco, mushrooms and reserved kale leaves and simmer gently for about 20 to 25 minutes or until all the vegetables are tender but not mushy; you do not want the vegetables to fall apart. Cover the pot, remove from the heat and let rest for 15 to 30 minutes, during which time flavors will merge and blossom.

While the vegetables rest, make the salsa verde.

To serve, uncover the pot and use tongs to remove and discard the bay leaves and herb sprigs. Add several turns of black pepper, taste the liquid and correct for salt and pepper.

Ladle broth into soup cups, drizzle with a bit of olio nuovo and enjoy as a first course.

Ladle vegetables and broth into soup plates, top with a generous dollop of salsa verde and enjoy with hot bread and butter.

Note: If possible, use the tiny carrots from Armstrong Valley Farm, available at farmers markets in Sebastopol and in Santa Rosa at 50 Mark West Springs Road. Wash them and trim the root end, but don’t peel or cut them. If you can’t use these carrots, use the best carrots you can find, peeled and cut into 1-inch diagonal pieces.

Don’t be too concerned about exact quantities in this stock; a little more of this or a little less of that is not a problem. And don’t spend much time on the chopping, either. Evenly shaped pieces are not important here; random chopping is just fine.

Vegetable Stock

Makes about 6 cups

2 unpeeled yellow onions, quartered

4 inner celery stalks, leaves attached

1 serrano or jalapeño, split lengthwise but not halved

1 garlic bulb, halved crosswise (unpeeled)

8 ounces mushrooms, preferably cremini, coarsely chopped

6 stalks Swiss chard

2 large leeks, halved and thoroughly cleaned, chopped

3 carrots, washed and coarsely chopped

2 large russet potatoes, washed and cut into chunks

2 teaspoons white peppercorns

Kosher salt

¼ cup olive oil

3 Italian parsley sprigs

2 thyme sprigs

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Put the vegetables and peppercorns into a large roasting pan and season with salt. Drizzle the olive oil over the vegetables, add the herbs and toss gently to coat everything with the oil.

Roast the vegetables for 30 minutes.

Transfer the vegetables and pan drippings into a large stock pot, add 3 quarts of water and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer gently for 1½ to 2 hours, adding more water as needed to keep the vegetables submerged. Strain the stock, return it to a clean stock pot or saucepan set over medium heat and simmer until it is reduced to just 6 cups.

Use right away or cool to room temperature and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days and in the freezer for up to 2 months.

There are many variations of this classic condiment, some blended until nearly smooth, others, like this one, chunky. If you do not like cilantro, simply omit it.

Italian-Style Salsa Verde

Makes about 2 cups

2 bunches Italian parsley, large stems discarded, chopped

1 bunch cilantro, large stems discarded, chopped

2 shallots, minced

3 to 4 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon drained capers or drained green peppercorns, optional

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

Juice of 1 lemon, plus more as needed

Kosher salt

Black pepper in a mill

⅔ cup extra virgin olive oil

Put the parsley, cilantro, shallots, garlic and capers or green peppercorns into a medium bowl and toss well with a fork. Add the mustard and lemon juice and toss again. Season with salt and several turns of black pepper and stir in the olive oil. Taste, correct for salt and acid, cover and let rest for 15 to 30 minutes before serving. This salsa verde will keep, covered and refrigerated, for a day or two.

Michele Anna Jordan is the author of 24 books to date, including “The New Cook’s Tour of Sonoma.” Email her at michele@micheleannajordan.com.