Zucchini is undoubtedly considered a summer vegetable. But it turns out that it is possible even in late autumn or early winter to surprise your household with, for example, stewed stew from it. In this article you will find tips on how to properly store zucchini. Following them, for a long time after the end of the summer season you will make original and spicy vegetable dishes out of season. And some recommendations on how to harvest zucchini for the winter, with photos of the processing steps, clearly demonstrate the process of laying fruits for storage. It is important to follow some rules.
How to store zucchini: fruit selection
You will have to recall winter already in early spring, when you will choose a fruit variety before starting summer work. It is best to plant zucchini. It is easier to save them, since there are fewer seeds inside and the peel is harder. For winter laying, take fully ripened fruits without any damage. At the same time, they need to be cut from the garden with a small part of the peduncle 3-4 cm long. The vegetables of milk ripeness are stored for a short time, not more than 2-3 weeks, but they have a more tender and juicy flesh. Therefore, they must be used first.
How to store zucchini: selection of places and packaging
For selected ripened fruits that you plan to use in the winter, the premises must meet two requirements: darkness and a constant air temperature of 18-20 ° . Therefore, the apartment will fit places, for example, near the entrance or balcony doors, while away from heating appliances and batteries. Equip a small wooden box with cardboard partitions and put the fruits in it so that they do not touch each other.
And how to store zucchini milk ripeness? Best in the refrigerator, pre-placed in a bag with small holes for air circulation. By removing the fruits in a vegetable box with a temperature of 5-7 ° C, you will ensure that they are kept fresh for 20 days.
Is it possible and how to store zucchini by freezing them?
This question usually arises if you have gathered a very large crop of vegetables from your personal plot. Having selected a certain number of fruits for long-term storage, as well as bookmarks in the refrigerator, the rest can be processed in two ways: freeze or cook homemade pickles. In any of these cases, zucchini must first be washed and cut. And in the winter, to prepare a summer stew, it will be enough to pour the frozen mass in the form of cubes into the pan directly from the container or bag and put out with other vegetables. Many housewives use another original method - the preparation of semi-finished products. To do this, you can stuff fruits with a mass of minced meat and rice (similar to bell pepper). Cut long young zucchini with a diameter of no more than 5-6 cm across into cylinders of approximately the same length. Then, using a teaspoon, scrape the inner pulp of the vegetable (see photo), fill with minced meat and freeze. To get a mouth-watering dish, you just need to put the blanks in a pan and stew, pour in tomato sauce, for half an hour.
In addition to all of the above methods of preserving vegetables for the winter, you can also cook various canned salads from them.