TOP 10 recipes for freezing zucchini fresh and fried at home for the winter
During the summer season, the body can get enough vitamins and minerals from fresh vegetables and fruits. With the onset of cold weather, it is recommended to freeze a certain amount of fresh vegetables from the garden in order to be able to get all the nutrients at any time. Below is detailed information on how to freeze tasty and healthy zucchini for the winter, what recipe options are, and how to store the blanks correctly.
Is it possible to freeze zucchini
Before starting to make stocks, the owners of their own gardens, first of all, ask themselves the question - is the zucchini generally suitable for freezing? Does it make sense to store it in the freezer, hoping that it will not lose the vitamins it contains?
It is recommended to freeze zucchini for the winter if in the cold season you want to have preserved vegetables, the beneficial properties of which cannot be compared with canned or imported products that are offered on store shelves.
Indeed, only in fruits grown independently, you can be sure that they do not contain preservatives, nitrates and other harmful substances that are added to vegetables and fruits during industrial production.
And freezing is a great way to preserve completely natural products and be able to eat them at any time of the year.
How to choose vegetables for preparation for the winter
In order to be able to eat healthy and tasty in winter, you need to choose the right vegetables for freezing. When harvesting, all fruits should be divided into two categories - those that are best eaten now, fresh, and those that are suitable for freezing for the winter.
For storage in the freezer, young zucchini or squash squash will be most successful. It is recommended to choose light fruits of a small size - later, when cooking a frozen vegetable, they will be the best - in overly large zucchini the middle will boil down, and the skin will be tough and dry.
Small frozen zucchini can be cooked evenly and retained the taste.
Zucchini is not considered a very good option for freezing for the winter - such fruits contain too much liquid, which is not suitable for storage at low temperatures.Zucchini with the least amount of liquid in them is suitable for freezing - then the cooked vegetables will not be tough and retain their good taste. It is recommended to choose zucchini with a thin skin and small seeds.
Preparing the refrigerator
The refrigerator does not need particularly careful preparation before placing the zucchini in it, but, nevertheless, to preserve the best taste in vegetables, you must follow several recommendations:
- Remove from the freezer or from a separate edema where the zucchini will be stored, all foods that give off strong odors. If the flavors mix with each other for a long time, this will affect the taste, therefore, in order to preserve the pure taste of the fruits, it is recommended to store them separately from other products.
- Place the freezer on a low temperature to create a stress freeze effect (this method preserves the flavor and vitamins of the courgette). For primary freezing, marrow should be sent either to the “Fast / Super freeze” compartment, or set the lowest temperature in the common chamber, and raise it to the usual one after a certain amount of time.
- Another important point is the preparation of containers in which vegetables will be stored. The best option is considered to be plastic bags, from which it is necessary to remove air as much as possible (this will allow vegetables to survive longer).
Ways to freeze zucchini at home
Below are some of the most popular ways to freeze zucchini for the winter, preserving its good sweet taste and all the useful qualities.
Freezing fresh zucchini with rings
In fact, there is no single option on how to properly freeze zucchini for the winter. Several methods are known to modern cooking, and the choice of one of them depends on the intentions in the further preparation of frozen vegetables and, of course, on individual preferences.
One of the most popular options for storing zucchini in the freezer is freezing a vegetablecut into rings.
This option will be convenient for further cooking dishes with zucchini (for example, fried side dishes or casseroles) and is easy to perform.
Step-by-step instruction:
- Cut the washed and well-dried vegetables into rings, the thickness of which should vary within one to one and a half centimeters.
- Lay out the rings on a previously prepared dish (it is recommended to cover it with plastic wrap or a bag to prevent the vegetables from freezing to the dishes).
- If you plan to freeze a lot of zucchini, they are laid out in several layers, separated from each other by polyethylene, so that the fruits do not freeze among themselves.
- Place the dish in the freezer. It is recommended to use "stress" freezing.
- After the vegetables are frozen, they should be removed from the dish and placed in a separate bag or container for storage.
Diced
Freezing zucchini in cubes is no more difficult than using rings. The fundamental difference is only in the form of cutting vegetables - for this method they should be cut into small cubes of equal size (1.5-2 centimeters). Storage for this type of freezing is recommended in portions, because small cubes will be difficult to separate from each other for adding to dishes.
With vegetables and rice
One of the options for preparing a full-fledged zucchini dish in the freezer is to freeze the vegetable mixture with rice. Thus, you get a ready-made side dish that does not need additional ingredients - it is perfect for meat or as an independent dietary dish.
Cooking method:
- Prepare vegetables: onions, carrots, zucchini, tomatoes. Cut into cubes of the same size.
- Simmer the vegetable mixture in a skillet with olive oil. The extinguishing time is about half an hour, over low heat.Add salt, pepper and spices to taste.
- Mix stewed vegetables with boiled rice. Cool the stew and divide in portions into separate containers, then send to freeze.
With greens
To better preserve the taste of fresh zucchini and give it a special charm, you can freeze vegetables with fresh herbs. The cooking method is not very complicated - everything is done in the same way as for ordinary freezing with rings. The only difference is that before sending the vegetable to the freezer, it must be sprinkled with herbs (preferably dill, this is the best combination for cooking).
For baby food
You can prepare food for a child from zucchini for the winter - made yourself from vegetables from the garden, it will come out tastier and healthier than store counterparts. To prepare baby food, finely chopped zucchini is chopped in a blender and poured into ice molds.
In this form, the vegetable is sent for primary freezing, after which the resulting forms should be folded in portions and left for storage in the freezer. For one dose, two or three cubes will be enough for a child.
Freezing fried zucchini
Another popular method is to freeze ready-made, fried zucchini. In this case, the dish will only need to be reheated in the microwave before use. Before frying, the zucchini must be treated with the necessary spices (salt, pepper) and rolled on both sides in flour. After frying, they must be cooled and after that sent to the freezer, separating each layer of vegetables with polyethylene.
Grated zucchini and squash puree
Freezing grated zucchini involves the use of all fruits, regardless of the size and amount of liquid in them.
Before cooking, it is necessary to remove all large hard seeds and peel from large fruits (it is permissible on young zucchini). The vegetables are rubbed on a coarse grater, and moisture is removed from all the resulting pulp before freezing. Zucchini puree is frozen in the same way, and other root vegetables are added to it, for example, carrots or pumpkin.
Temperature and shelf life
The main rule of storage is that frozen zucchini cannot be taken out of the freezer for a long time and then sent there again. Temperature drops are extremely undesirable, otherwise the vegetable will lose its taste and useful properties. The optimum temperature for permanent storage is 10 to 20 degrees Celsius. Shelf life - no more than 10 months.
Rules for defrosting zucchini
In order for the workpiece to be properly defrosted, it is placed at room temperature. It is not recommended to immediately put frozen vegetables on a hot stove - frozen ice will turn into water, which will affect the taste and quality of the dish. An exception is vegetable stew, which is suitable for stewing until cooked right out of the freezer.
