How to keep fresh parsley for the winter?

To preserve fresh parsley for the winter, no special equipment is required. And the process itself is simple and does not require much time. But in the frosty winter, a sprig of fresh parsley will create a summer mood and fill the dishes with a unique aroma. By the way, the store alternative, which is sold in winter, does not have the same taste and smell as harvested from the summer.

She can perfectly decorate the dish, but if you chop the soup and season with such greens, it will obviously lose in comparison with the "home" one. Moreover, even frozen parsley grown under the summer sun contains 2 times more vitamin C than a winter greenhouse. So learn to freeze parsley.

Choose a storage method and prepare greens

To keep parsley fresh for the winter, you need to freeze it. You can also dry or salt it, but then there will be no fresh taste. Over the years, the mistresses have come up with a variety of methods to preserve fresh greens for the winter, and it is also convenient to use it. We can only choose the most acceptable way or offer something of our own. So, you can freeze parsley:

• twigs;
• cubes;
• stripes;
• shredded in bulk.

Whichever way you choose to store the parsley, it is prepared according to the same scenario:

1. Clean the bushes of greenery: remove rotten leaves, foreign matter, cut the roots.
2. Wash the parsley. This is best done by soaking in salt water. This method does not injure the leaves (this is important if the greens are to be frozen with twigs), removes nitrates and kills the microorganisms living on it. Pour so much water into the basin so that it covers the bunches of greenery. Add salt to make the water taste salty, and soak the leaf seasoning for 15-20 minutes.
3. Shake off excess moisture from the washed grass and place it on a towel. It should dry, but not have time to fade. In order for the branches to dry well, they need to be turned over from time to time. Thorough drying is especially important if parsley is supposed to be frozen for the winter with shredded loose leaves or twigs.
4. Now fragrant leaf seasoning is ready for further manipulations, which depend on the chosen method of freezing. They will be discussed in the next part.

Tip: you need to choose one or another option based on the intended purpose of the frozen greens. For example, for use in soup, sauces or other hot dishes, preparation for the winter with cubes and stripes is suitable, for sprinkling boiled potatoes it is most convenient to use parsley, chopped in bulk, and for decorating salads and main dishes - twigs.

Step-by-step instructions for freezing

Let us consider in more detail how to store parsley with twigs, cubes, stripes and loose. In order to get neatly frozen twigs, the prepared parsley should be laid out on a “twig to twig” substrate, so that when it is placed in the freezer, the bushes will immediately “take up”. This will allow them to maintain their shape and maximum vitamins. When all the branches on the substrate freeze well (in 2-3 hours), they can be transferred to the plastic wrap and wrapped in portioned bunches.

Tip: everyone knows that to create semi-finished products in production, they use the “shock freezing” method. It allows you to freeze any product in a matter of seconds, thereby preserving the maximum nutrients and preserving their shape.If the freezer has a “quick freeze” function, it should be used when freezing greens.

There are two ways to make frozen parsley cubes - they differ in filling. In the first embodiment, the greens are poured with water, in the second - with melted butter. When frozen with cubes, it is not necessary to dry it thoroughly. It is enough to rinse and chop, and then tightly put in a mold of such a size that one is no more than a serving. Then, a little water or butter should be poured into each mold. Forms with greens are cleaned in the freezer for complete freezing.

The method that allows you to store parsley in strips all winter is similar to that described above - storage in cubes. For him, it is enough to wash the prepared leaf seasoning (without drying), chop and put a strip on a plastic wrap (15-20 cm), and then wrap it with a sausage (not a roll!) So that the inside is greens and the outside is a film. Thus, it is necessary to wrap all chopped grass. The result is a few stripes. They should be put in the freezer and consumed as necessary, cutting off a piece of the desired length with a knife.

And, the last way, allowing you to store parsley greens all winter and is conveniently used as a sprinkle for boiled, fried potatoes or meat - freezing with chopped loose. This is the fastest, least troublesome option. To preserve greens in this way, prepared parsley should be chopped and put in a container that must be placed in the freezer. In order for frozen greens to separate easily and be taken with a pinch, it must be thoroughly dried.

Tip: frozen greens are stored for up to 12 months, cubes with butter - up to 4-6 months.

Other helpful suggestions

Each of the proposed methods for harvesting fresh parsley for the winter provides for its easy portion division. This is due to the fact that frozen greens cannot be thawed and re-frozen, but should be stored in the freezer all the time until use. Moreover, before use, frozen greens are not thawed, but immediately placed in a dish.

In order to store parsley in a freezer, plastic containers, silicone molds, cling film or special freezing bags are suitable. Glass is not used, since under the influence of low temperatures it can crack. The metal is oxidized in contact with greenery, so it is also not recommended to use it in order to store parsley.

To save a piece of summer for the winter is a pleasant and not troublesome business. Let it be parsley or some other greens, the dishes seasoned with it will remind you of summer days and give sunny warmth!