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1½ pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch pieces

2 pounds meaty beef bones, sawed in a few pieces (your butcher can do this for you)

4 cups water

preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking liner or aluminum foil.

stir together the tomato paste, sugar, salt, pepper, garlic, thyme, and sage in a large mixing bowl. Put the vegetables, meat, and bones in the bowl and rub the paste over them until they are coated.

spread the mixture out on the baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes, turning the pieces once during the cooking process. Transfer the mixture with any liquid to the insert of a 5- to 7-quart slow cooker. Add the water and stir to blend.

cover and cook on high for 4 to 5 hours or on low for 8 to 10 hours. Remove the solids from the stock, then strain the stock through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl. Allow the stock to cool, and skim off the fat from the surface.

refrigerate the stock for 3 days or freeze for up to 8 weeks. The meat from the stock may be frozen separately and used in soups, stews, or chilies.

makes about 6 cups

Turkey Carcass Broth

I teach a lot of Thanksgiving classes. At the end of each class, after the students have tasted the Thanksgiving dinner and we are looking at the naked turkey carcass, I tell my pupils that if they can’t stand to make turkey soup after the Thanksgiving meal, to put the carcass in a two-gallon zipper-top plastic bag and freeze it. When they are ready to make turkey soup, they can just defrost it overnight in the refrigerator and put it in the slow cooker the next day. Once you have turkey stock in the freezer, you can make soup, casseroles, and all manner of sauces. This same formula can be used for chicken as well, but if you are only using one chicken, cut the ingredients in half.

1 turkey carcass, broken up into pieces

2 medium onions, coarsely chopped

3 medium carrots, coarsely chopped

3 medium stalks celery with leaves, coarsely chopped

8 cups chicken stock

2 teaspoons dried thyme

1 teaspoon dried sage leaves

1 bay leaf

4 whole black peppercorns

Salt

put all the ingredients except the salt in the insert of a 5- to 7-quart slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 4 to 5 hours or on low for 8 to 10 hours.

season with salt. Strain the broth through a colander to remove the large solids, then strain again through a finemesh sieve.

cool the stock to room temperature, then store in airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 6 months.

makes about 8 cups

* * *

slow-cooker savvy

I generally don’t save the meat from this stock. It doesn’t freeze well, and since it’s now been cooked twice, it’s pretty soft and not very appetizing.

Minestrone with Parmigiano-Reggiano

The word minestrone in Italian means “without stock,” so it is essentially a vegetarian soup that uses the juices of the vegetables as its stock. This soup is terrific in the slow cooker. Even though there doesn’t seem to be enough liquid for the soup at first glance, the vegetables will add a lot of liquid to the pot as they cook. For a strictly vegan soup, omit the cheese rind.

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup coarsely chopped sweet onion

1 cup coarsely chopped carrots

1 cup coarsely chopped celery

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary

One 14- to 15-ounce can plum tomatoes, with their juice

¼ cup dry white wine

2 medium zucchini, cut into ½-inch rounds

One 14- to 15-ounce can small white beans, drained and rinsed

1 head escarole or Savoy cabbage, cut into small pieces

8 ounces green beans, ends snipped, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 medium head cauliflower, cut into florets

Rind from Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, cut into ½-inch pieces, plus ½ to 1 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese for garnishing

2 cups vegetable broth

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

8 ounces cooked small pasta (shells, ditalini, or other short tubular pasta)

heat the oil in a large skillet