How to freeze fresh zucchini for the winter in a home freezer?

Freezing is a simple and effective method of harvesting, which preserves the vitamins and minerals that the body needs in the winter season. With the advent of freezers, there was no need to preserve vegetables, berries and fruits for the winter. There are many recipes to freeze zucchini for the winter in the freezer fresh. The semi-finished product is used for the preparation of soups, stews, gravy, fritters, and is also used as the first food for the child. After all, zucchini, plucked in the summer from its own garden and frozen, is much healthier than fresh vegetables bought in the winter at the supermarket.

Selection of zucchini for freezing

Zucchini is a low-calorie hypoallergenic product that positively affects the digestive system, helps to remove toxins and toxins, while it has a pleasant delicate taste and goes well with meat, chicken, fish.

Any zucchini is suitable for freezing: large, small, young and finally ripened. The main thing is that they are ripe and fresh, it is better - just plucked from the garden.

When choosing specimens for harvesting for the winter, we must remember that young vegetables contain a lot of water, and overripe thick peels and large seeds that will have to be removed.

Each vegetable should be carefully inspected and put aside specimens with obvious damage to the skin or traces of rot. Such a product is not suitable for freezing, especially if it is planned to be used as food for a child.

What is better to freeze?

To store vegetables in the freezer, you can use any container that can withstand prolonged exposure to low temperatures:

• special vacuum bags;
• silicone molds;
• 250 ml or 500 ml food-grade plastic containers.

Containers and bags must be clean and dry. You must try to squeeze out all the excess air from the bag.

Glass containers and very thin sachets should not be used as containers for freezing at home. The glass may crack, and the thinnest polyethylene after freezing becomes brittle and breaks into pieces.

A label should be affixed to the container or bag indicating the name of the vegetable, the method of preparation and the date. After lying for several months in the freezer, the blanks of vegetables of the same color become similar to each other, so without an inscription it is difficult to make out where the fried zucchini is and where it is blanched.

Storage preparation

Before freezing zucchini, they must be properly prepared:

• cut from two ends, removing the place of growth of the flower and the stalk;
• rinse in cool water;
• dry with a paper towel or cotton napkin.

When freezing young zucchini, the skin is not necessary to cut off. Overripe fruits must be peeled and removed, along with the adjacent pulp.

Zucchini prepared in this way are cut depending on the chosen method of freezing: with cubes, cubes or rings, crushed using a grater or blender.

Freezing rings

Zucchini frozen in the shape of rings or plates is perfect for cooking casseroles and hot sandwiches. They can be fried in batter and served with greens as a separate dish.

Many housewives prefer to blanch vegetables before freezing for 3-5 minutes in boiling water.Thanks to this treatment, the fruit retains better color and taste after defrosting. However, experts argue that blanching is not necessary at all, and fresh vegetables that have not been cooked contain more nutrients. The choice of method depends on personal preferences and tastes.

Recipe for freezing zucchini in circles:

1. young vegetables along with the skin are cut into rings about 5 mm thick;
2. Pour pure water into a deep pot and bring to a boil;
3. slicing is immersed in boiling water for 3-5 minutes;
4. the zucchini circles are laid in a colander so that the glass is excess liquid;
5. dried by spreading on a kitchen towel;
6. they freeze the rings by spreading them in one layer on a plate or pan so that they do not stick together;
7. stack the billet in portioned packets and send for storage in the freezer.

If you do not want to blanch, you need to pour the chopped fruit with salt and after a few minutes, remove the protruding liquid with a towel, and then put it in bags for freezing. In winter, before cooking, thawing such rings is optional.

Cubes from zucchini

Freezing in the form of cubes or bars is useful for cooking vegetable soup or mashed potatoes, casseroles, sautéed stews, stews and other healthy dishes. Such a blank is made as follows:

1. Vegetables are freed from the skin and large seeds.
2. Dice and spread in a bowl.
3. Sprinkle the cut with a small amount of salt and leave for half an hour to make the juice.
4. After that, the cubes are dried with a cotton towel, put in vacuum bags and placed in a freezer.

Grated zucchini for fritters

An excellent preparation for the preparation of vegetable pancakes, cream soup or caviar - zucchini, crushed using a grater or combine. In this case, it is even better to take a mature thick zucchini, as its pulp contains less juice and more fiber than a young vegetable.

1. Zucchini peeled and peeled, leaving only clean pulp.
2. Prepared pieces are chopped with a grater or passed through a combine with a special nozzle.
3. The resulting mass is laid out in a saucepan and squeezed carefully to drain the released liquid.
4. They are laid out portionwise in packets.

Grated carrots, garlic, chopped greens can be added to the zucchini. Before use, the mass is thawed, once again the excess water is drained and only after that the ingredients necessary for the preparation of the intended dish are added.

Zucchini puree for the winter

This method of freezing will certainly appeal to young mothers who want to please their baby with healthy and tasty vegetables in the winter.

1. Zucchini peeled from peel and seeds is cut into small cubes and boiled until half cooked.
2. Cooked vegetables are laid in a colander, allowing excess water to drain.
3. After that, crush with a blender to the consistency of mashed potatoes.
4. The resulting mass is poured into small containers and sent to the freezer.

Such freezing can be stored in the form of ice cubes in a food bag. To do this, instead of the container, they take a silicone mold for baking cookies, fill it with zucchini mass and put it in the freezer. As soon as the mashed potatoes freeze properly, the resulting ice cakes are shaken out of the mold and stored in a bag.

Stuffed zucchini

Zucchini stuffed with meat or vegetables under a crispy cheese crust - what could be tastier, especially in winter? Large mature specimens are suitable for this blank.

The recipe for freezing is very simple:

1. Zucchini cut in the form of rings about 2.5-3 cm thick, in the form of boats or cups - the main thing is that the form is suitable for stuffing with minced meat.
2. Seeds with adjacent pulp are removed from each piece.
3. Freeze for two hours by spreading it on a pallet or flat plate.
4. Frozen pieces are stacked in bags (one bag at a time).

In winter, it remains only to take out the workpiece, defrost it a bit, stuff with minced meat and bake in the oven.

Fried zucchini for the winter

For those who want to always have on hand a blank for quick cooking, the recipe for freezing fried zucchini is suitable:

1. Young zucchini cut into rings.
2. Pieces are sprinkled with salt and pepper, roll in flour or breadcrumbs.
3. On both sides fry in vegetable oil.
4. The fried rings are spread on a napkin or baking paper to remove excess fat.
5. Before folding into a container, the rings are frozen individually, laid out on a pallet. Otherwise, the whole frost will stick together.

Fried rings are stored in a plastic container. It is desirable to separate the layers from each other using polyethylene, foil or baking paper.

It turns out almost a finished dish. Before use, the freeze is taken out of the chamber, laid out on a plate and heated in the microwave.

It is important to remember that vegetables cannot be re-frozen, and thawed vegetables must be used during the day. If a quality product is selected for freezing and the basic rules are followed, zucchini can be stored in the freezer until the next harvest.