How to freeze blue ones fresh for the winter. How to freeze eggplant for the winter. Roasting whole fruits

Unlike other vegetables, eggplant, after freezing, changes its structure and taste beyond recognition. Therefore, there are special tricks for freezing eggplants for the winter at home. The Indian alien is so fond of culinary specialists that home-freezing methods are being used more and more often. Moreover, dishes from frozen eggplant taste indistinguishable from those prepared from fresh fruits.

What is the benefit of eggplant?

India is the birthplace of eggplant. They belong to the nightshade family. A heat-loving culture is demanding in agricultural technology. In cooking, eggplants occupy a worthy place due to their useful components. The microelements presented in its composition have a beneficial effect on the cardiovascular system. There are special properties in fruits:

The use of eggplant reduces cravings for tobacco, as the pulp contains the amount of nicotine needed by the smoker.
It activates the process of removing bile from the body, which is important in liver diseases.
A large amount of fiber improves intestinal motility. Copper stimulates the hematopoietic system.
Solanine, present in eggplants, gives them bitterness, but is easily removed by soaking with salt.
The fruits are a perishable product.

You can extend the use of eggplant using canning. But during heat treatment, the amount of nutrients is halved. With the advent of household freezers, a way has emerged to preserve the benefits of green foods by freezing. Is it possible to freeze eggplant for the winter? Yes, you can. At the same time, the useful composition is preserved almost completely. The faster the freezing is carried out, the more vitamins in greens and fruits. However, repeated freezing is unacceptable for products. The product taken from the freezer should be used without residue. In addition, unlike beets, parsley and dill, eggplant needs special processing before being placed in the freezer.

When stored in the light, eggplants produce solanine, which is a toxic substance. It is also found in fruits in small quantities, giving them bitterness.

How to freeze eggplant for the winter?

There are general recommendations that should be used when laying eggplant in the freezer:

Do not freeze fruits without pre-soaking. In this case, the pulp becomes rubbery.
Soaking is always carried out in a saline solution, which removes the bitterness of the product. Soaking time is several hours. You can sprinkle the sliced \u200b\u200bin salt for an hour with the extraction of the released juice.
Regardless of the method of further processing, the mass or fruit ready for storage must be wrapped so that there is no air, no oxidation occurs.
Before laying in storage, the workpieces should be drained of excess moisture or oil on paper towels.
Store the finished product in an airtight container or food bag for no more than 6 months.
When stacking various bags and containers in the freezer, it is necessary to sign the product. Packages during winter storage become indistinguishable.

Preparation methods differ in different recipes. Many recommendations on how to freeze eggplant properly can be found on culinary websites. In this case, blanching, frying in a pan or in the oven until soft is used.

The fastest way is blanks in the form of a whole eggplant. Fresh elastic fruit without damage is washed and allowed to dry. Remove the tail and fry on all sides in a dry frying pan without oil. It is important to turn the fruits so that the bitter juice flows out. After that, remove the skin and, after cooling the eggplant, swaddle it in cling film, put it in the freezer.

If the same eggplant is sprinkled with salt and greased with vegetable oil, then after baking in the oven until soft, it will be ready as a semi-finished product. We remove the skin and also pack it in cling film.

If cutting is performed, then here you should prepare cubes, strips, slices for a specific dish. At the same time, take into account that the smaller the fragment, the faster it will freeze and retain more vitamins. After slicing and salting, the slices can go to blanching, to the oven for baking or to the pan for frying. Sometimes eggplant circles are fried after breading in flour or breadcrumbs. Baked and fried eggplant slices are ready to eat after defrosting.

Blanching - heat treatment for several minutes and subsequent cooling in water:

Dip the prepared slices into boiling water and boil them for 2-4 minutes until they become soft. Drain quickly in a colander and cool with water.
Put the eggplant pan in the microwave for 3-4 minutes at a power of 800-900 watts.
Process vegetables in a double boiler for 3-4 minutes.

The semi-finished product is ready, it remains to dry and lay in a thin layer for freezing. Only after that the products are packaged for storage.

Deep freezing one layer of eggplant slices will take 4-5 hours. If more than one layer is laid, the freezing time increases, and this is not entirely beneficial for the preservation of vitamins. Freezing eggplant for the winter at home is a time-consuming and responsible process.

For preservation, medium-sized fruits are chosen without the slightest damage, with elastic pulp. At the same time, varieties of late ripening will be the best for harvesting.

Winter storage of frozen vegetables

During the entire period, it is necessary to ensure that no mixture of aromas forms in the freezer. Preparations such as frozen dill should be kept in an airtight container, preferably in a separate chamber. He contrives to spread his fragrance throughout the refrigerator. Other blanks pull on an unnecessary smell. Therefore, it is better to use special containers. It's good to have disposables. Got it, opened it, used it.

In the event of a power outage, do not open the cabinet door. Modern equipment keeps the cold for more than 12 hours, if you do not break the circuit. Later, of course, an audit will be required. If part of the product has melted, then you need to make caviar. You can't freeze eggplant again.

How to defrost the product correctly?

A portion of frozen eggplant can be set to gradually thaw in the refrigerator for several hours. You can arrange the slices on a plate and leave on the table. At the same time, cooks do not recommend using a microwave.

Video about freezing eggplant for the winter

Recipe " How to freeze eggplant for the winter» offers one of the best ways to preserve vegetables for a long time. Deep-frozen, they will not spoil for months, retain their taste and most of the vitamins, and at the same time do not have to apply complex treatments to them. Of course, compared to sweet peppers or zucchini, eggplants require a more careful approach and additional manipulations when frozen.

Is it possible to freeze eggplant at all? After all, this vegetable has a specific taste, which, if improperly frozen, can change in a negative direction. Yes, eggplant can be frozen, but not raw. But if, nevertheless, they are harvested raw, then they are stored at a temperature of -12 C and no more than 5 months. Eggplants themselves in a frozen state do not smell, but they are able to absorb foreign odors. For example, from fragrant dill, which even in the freezer is able to smell all neighboring products. Therefore, when freezing eggplants, they must be hermetically sealed in a suitable container. It is not recommended to freeze eggplant along with other vegetables. Here, as in every culinary recipe, there are small ones.

How to freeze eggplant for the winter is useful and right at home? To do this, there are three main ways of pre-treatment: fry, blanch or soak. But the third method is desirable to use with the first two options. Whichever method is chosen, it would be good to wash the eggplants thoroughly first, cut off the stalks from them and cut them into convenient pieces (bars, cubes, mugs, straws, etc.). And the smaller or thinner the pieces, the faster they will freeze. After the pieces are transferred to salted water and kept in it, thereby removing the excess bitterness that these vegetables have. Soaked eggplants are laid out on a paper towel (linen is better not to use, as the pulp can stick to it) and left on it until dry.

So, as mentioned above, the following options are possible: How to freeze eggplant for the winter quickly»:
- fry the soaked eggplants in a pan in a small amount of vegetable oil and cool;
- blanch the pieces of vegetables, dipping them first in boiling water, and then in ice water, completing this procedure with drying (it is better not to put wet eggplants in the freezer);
- just dry the soaked eggplant slices and put them in a convenient container for storage in the freezer.

It is advisable not to use ordinary plastic bags for packaging eggplants. It is better to store vegetables for several months in plastic containers. At the same time, you need to try to arrange the eggplants closer to each other, compactly; so they freeze faster and take up less space. But you don’t need to place them close either, otherwise, in order to defrost in the future, in order to pull out a certain number of pieces, you will have to break them off from the total mass or break it.

On average, small eggplant cubes take about 4-5 hours to freeze in the freezer. And you can defrost them in the microwave, right in the pan, or simply spread them out in one layer on a cutting board or other surface. But you do not need to defrost them in hot water and with other vegetables. It is important to remember exactly how the vegetables were frozen. If they were fried beforehand, then too long processing is not needed. But raw vegetables must be properly fried, stewed, boiled, like ordinary vegetables. A container with frozen eggplants can even be signed, because in a frozen form it is quite difficult to distinguish pieces and determine which one was used.

Compared to other vegetables, eggplant can be called finicky, with its own specifics and characteristics. And not every housewife can freeze them correctly the first time. But everything is not so difficult, if you carefully delve into it! The main thing is to disassemble recipes "How to freeze eggplant for the winter" in order and when harvesting, strictly adhere to the recommendations of the recipes. Let's take a closer look at the following two methods.

Method 1 - freezing whole eggplants with preliminary frying
First of all, only whole, ripe vegetables are selected for harvesting, without spoilage and rumpled places. Then they are washed, the tails are cut off from them, and they are left to dry. The second step is to put the dried, clean eggplants in a dry frying pan without oil and fry them on all sides over low heat until they are slightly softened. During frying, eggplants need to be turned over regularly; so excess moisture and bitterness will go out of them. Next, the baked vegetables are peeled, and each of them is wrapped in cling film. Now they can be transferred to a suitable container for freezing and put in the freezer. The advantage of this method is that frozen eggplants can be taken from the freezer one at a time, avoiding defrosting extra portions.

Method 2 - freezing eggplant slices with preliminary blanching
The second method differs from the first in that the vegetables will be frozen in sliced \u200b\u200bcircles or cubes. So, washed eggplants are cut, sprinkled with salt and left for 30 minutes so that they “drain” and get rid of the bitter taste. Then the pieces are blanched: they are placed in a colander and dipped in boiling water for 1-2 minutes, and then abruptly into cold water. Next, mugs or cubes are laid out on a paper towel (so they dry faster) and then put into sealed containers for freezing in the freezer. Store such eggplants in small portions, checking the storage container for the absence of unwanted moisture.

Undoubtedly, there is nothing better than fresh vegetables! They contain trace elements and vitamins ... But what if the season ends and you have to say goodbye to them? Then "How to freeze eggplant for the winter" recipes will be a great help and help stock up on a tasty and fresh piece of summer. Pickles, preserves and marinated are good for everyone. But, unfortunately, they are of little use. Then there is only one way out - home freezing!

Eggplant is one of the unusual vegetable crops. The fact is that it does not have any characteristic aroma at all, but at the same time it perfectly absorbs the smell of a nearby product. In this regard, several recommendations have been developed for the correct procedure for freezing eggplant. One of the advantages of freezing is the preservation of a huge amount of useful and nutritious elements in vegetables, which are not always preserved in canned form. How to freeze eggplants at home, what is necessary for this, we will consider below.

Which eggplants are suitable for freezing?

The summer period is exactly the time when people are involved in the process of creating various preparations for the coming winter. Previously, housewives preferred canning, trying to pack the entire harvest in three-liter jars. It is no secret that conservation at home is a rather lengthy process. First you need to boil the vegetable, then you should sterilize the containers for future canned food, and, finally, you need to roll up the vegetables.

The emergence of refrigerators with large freezers in the public domain has given housewives a new opportunity. Now you can freeze delicious preparations, while saving time and preserving more useful vitamins and minerals contained in vegetable crops.

If you are not into gardening and prefer to get all the necessary products at the market stalls or in the supermarket, you are strongly advised to read the tips on how to choose quality eggplants, as well as to understand if they are suitable for freezing.

Luckily, eggplant is one of those vegetables whose appearance makes it easy to tell if the product is of good quality. First, visually evaluate the eggplant. A large fruit, as a rule, contains a huge amount of seeds inside, which in this case is not very good. Therefore, give preference to medium-sized eggplants. They have a more delicate and juicy taste. The surface of such a fruit must be clean, even and smooth. Dark spots on the skin of an eggplant indicate that you have a vegetable that is not grown in the most favorable conditions.

The appearance of the stalk plays a huge role in determining the quality of the product. First of all, it must be present. Its absence may be a signal that you have met a dishonest seller who wants to hide the signs of an overripe vegetable. Fresh eggplant - the owner of a bright green stalk. A mature and spoiled vegetable is characterized by a dry and wrinkled stalk.

As a rule, overripe eggplant has a bitter taste. While fresh and young vegetables do not have bitterness, but, on the contrary, are famous for their pleasant delicate taste. The purchase of fresh eggplants will greatly simplify the freezing process, since you do not have to perform any manipulations to remove bitterness from the vegetable.

So, in order for the freezing of a vegetable to be successful, it is important to choose the right specimen. Recommendations for selection are similar to the rules for selecting eggplant for canning or cooking a regular dish. It is necessary that it be a clean, smooth, dent-free vegetable with a glossy and elastic skin. The wide variety of varieties on offer may confuse you, but this does not matter. Eggplants of a dark purple hue, pink, beige, as well as striped vegetables are suitable for freezing.

Training

The preparatory process is one of the main stages in the process of freezing vegetable crops, in particular eggplant. Therefore, it is not recommended to ignore it. Otherwise, when defrosting eggplant, you may encounter various unpleasant situations. Consider the features of the preparation of eggplant in more detail.

First of all, in no case should a vegetable be frozen without prior soaking. It is necessary to remove the bitter taste from the pulp of a representative of the nightshade family. Eggplant, previously cut into slices or squares, is soaked for several hours in salted water, which helps to remove bitterness. There is also a faster method. To do this, cut the vegetable into circles, sprinkle them generously with salt and leave for about twenty minutes. After that, rinse them thoroughly under a strong stream of cold running water.

Remember that the soaking time for the eggplant will depend on how finely you cut the vegetable. A large slice will take longer than a small one.

Before the eggplant slices are placed in food containers for future freezing, it is recommended to dry the vegetable well. There should be no moisture on the surface of the slices.
For high-quality freezing, hermetic conditions are required. Vegetable circles should be wrapped tightly, excluding the possibility of air entering. This will prevent the eggplant from oxidizing and absorbing odors coming from foods lying nearby in the freezer. Food containers must be reliable and durable. Wish there was a lid. In its absence, the food container must be wrapped with a plastic bag or cling film.
It is recommended to label each container, as during the winter freezing period, all vegetables become hardly distinguishable in appearance.
Provided that the vegetables are stored in a tight sealed container, the maintained temperature should be at least twelve degrees below zero.
To maximize the preservation of taste, it is advisable not to eat eggplant that has lain for more than twelve months.

Ways

Today, there are quite a few ways to freeze eggplant for the winter. Consider the most widely used. For the first recipe, you will need: eggplant, salt (calculated as one teaspoon per pound of eggplant), olive or sunflower oil for frying.

To begin with, the vegetables are thoroughly washed. Then they are cut into slices, the thickness of which does not exceed seven millimeters. When thinly sliced, the peel is separated from the pulp during the frying process. For freezing, this is undesirable. Then the slices are folded into any deep container, sprinkled liberally with salt and left for an hour. As soon as you notice moisture appearing on the surface of the eggplants, drain them in a colander and rinse thoroughly with cold water. The bitterness removal process is complete. Lay the slices out on a paper towel and let them dry.

Then follows the heat treatment process, namely frying. The pan is poured abundantly with the oil of your choice and warmed up. Then it is worth laying out the slices in a pan and fry them on both sides so that a golden crust is obtained. Sprinkling with salt is optional. The fried vegetable slices are blotted with a paper towel to remove excess oil.

The cooled eggplant is sent for one to an hour and a half to the freezer. Do not forget that temperatures above twelve degrees below zero are undesirable. After the time has elapsed, slightly frozen slices can be packaged in food containers and put in the freezer.

You can freeze not only raw eggplant, but also baked. To do this, grease the baking sheets with the oil of your choice and spread the eggplant slices evenly. Then you need to preheat the oven to one hundred and eighty degrees and leave the eggplant to bake for thirty minutes. Turn the vegetable slices periodically to keep them from burning. After the finished eggplant has cooled, you can send it to the freezer.

And here's another option. Eggplant slices are laid out in a saucepan or frying pan with already heated oil. They must be salted and left to stew, stirring regularly so that they brown and become soft. After cooking, the vegetables must be allowed to cool, after which they can be sent to the freezer.

Another fun way to make frozen eggplants is to blanch them first. To do this, you need to lower the pre-chopped vegetable into a container with salted boiling water and the added juice of a freshly squeezed lemon. Leave the vegetables to cook for five to ten minutes. Remove the slices with a slotted spoon and place in cold water. Wait for the eggplant to cool completely. After that, be sure to dry it by blotting with a paper towel. After that, the vegetable will be ready to be placed in the freezer.

How to use them in winter?

The defrosting process requires a certain sequence. Never defrost eggplant in the microwave. Move the necessary part of the vegetables from the freezer to the refrigerator. Remember that the process should be gradual. After the vegetable slices begin to thaw, remove them from the refrigerator and leave to warm at room temperature.

Re-freezing unused eggplants is undesirable, as the vegetable loses most of the accumulated vitamins.

There are many ways to use frozen eggplant. It all depends on your imagination and food preferences. Here are some interesting and healthy recipes with frozen eggplant.

eggplant caviar is undoubtedly a useful product. It has a mild and delicate taste, almost odorless. To prepare this dish, you must first defrost the vegetables (according to the above recommendations) and beat the eggplant slices with a blender to a puree consistency. If desired, you can add spices and black pepper.
Eggplant turret with cheese- a unique dish that can surprise unexpected guests. It is prepared quite quickly, provided that the eggplants have been defrosted in advance. So, for this dish, choose a blank of eggplant, cut into circles. Cut a few tomatoes into round slices. Then alternate eggplant slices with tomato slices, building something that visually resembles a tower. To give the structure durability, pierce it in the middle with a canapé stick. Finely grate your favorite cheese and sprinkle over the dish.
Another great way to use an eggplant blank is to make a roll. For this recipe, it is advisable to choose a blank cut into thin slices. Fried or baked plates must be thawed. At this time, you can start preparing the filling. Let your imagination run wild and cook whatever you like. For example, cheese mix goes well with eggplant. Its preparation will take no more than ten minutes. Grate your favorite cheese on a fine grater and add a pre-chopped clove of garlic to it. Stir. Chop up herbs like parsley or dill. Add to cheese-garlic mixture. Place the contents on a plate of thawed eggplant and wrap it, forming a roll. The delicacy is ready to eat.

Delicious roast cooked with the addition of winter preparations will be able to please your household. As in previous recipes, eggplant slices are thawed. After that, they are laid out in pots. Then the diced meat is added. You can add other vegetables (to your taste). The contents are sprinkled with one tablespoon of olive oil. Spices, spices and salt are added. The pots are placed in the oven for an hour and a half at a temperature of one hundred and fifty degrees. After the time has passed, a tasty and healthy roast is obtained.
Frozen eggplants can also be used in recipes that call for a fresh vegetable. At the same time, in terms of the content of useful vitamins, winter harvesting is in no way inferior to vegetables just picked from the garden.

For information on how to freeze eggplant for the winter, see the following video.

Freezing is one of the easiest ways to preserve food for the winter. Today we will talk about how to freeze such a picky vegetable as eggplant. Indeed, there are several secrets that will help you avoid unpleasant surprises when preparing frozen eggplant dishes. This can manifest itself in the form of a specific bitterness and a rubbery consistency. But let's go in order.

For freezing, it is better to take ripe, dense fruits with a shiny elastic skin. It should be borne in mind that younger eggplants contain fewer substances that cause bitterness.

When cutting eggplant, you should pay attention to the cut of the vegetable. If it darkens, then this eggplant has a lot of seronin, a substance that causes a bitter taste. If the cut is light, then you can immediately proceed to heat treatment or freezing.

Ways to freeze eggplant

Method One: Freezing Raw Eggplants

Vegetables with this method are cut into slices or slices. Next, bitterness must be removed from them. To do this, add a few tablespoons of salt to a pot of water and lower the cut into it. After a couple of hours, the water is drained, and the vegetables are washed under cool water. Then throw them in a colander and let the water drain. It is advisable to then spread the eggplant on paper towels to dry thoroughly.

At the final stage, the vegetables are put into bags and tied tightly, releasing excess air.

It is worth noting that this is not the best way to freeze this delicate vegetable, as frozen raw eggplants may seem slightly rubbery in texture after defrosting. Therefore, when freezing eggplants, they are always advised to be subjected to heat treatment.

First you need to decide on the method of slicing eggplant. This, as well as in the previous recipe, can be both circles and cubes.

Salt will help remove bitterness. To do this, generously sprinkle the cut with coarse table salt and let it stand for 30-40 minutes. During this time, dark brown juice will drain from the vegetables, which contains all the bittering substances. After, the eggplants are washed under running water.

For blanching, eggplants are dipped in boiling water for 3-4 minutes, and then they are taken out and immediately dipped in ice water. It is convenient to do this with a colander, placing chopped vegetables in small batches.

Then you should wait until the water drains thoroughly from the blanched vegetables, or artificially dry the eggplants with paper towels.

Eggplants are cut into rings, and then bitterness is removed from them. This can be done both by soaking in salt water, and by sprinkling with coarse salt. Choose yourself. Next, the eggplants are dried, and laid out in a heated pan with a small amount of vegetable oil. Eggplants fried on both sides are cooled and placed on a tray or cutting board covered with cellophane. In this form, the eggplants are placed in the freezer for 4 hours, and then the fried rings are poured into freezer bags and put back into the freezer.

Watch the video: Lubov Kriuk tells how to freeze fried eggplant

Alternatively, fried eggplant rings can be rolled in flour and then frozen. Lubov Kriuk will talk about this in detail in his video:

With this method, eggplant can be baked whole. To do this, they are placed on a baking sheet greased with vegetable oil and sent to the oven for 30 minutes. After that, eggplants are peeled and squeezed out of juice, which may contain bitterness. Peeled whole eggplants are packed in bags and put in the freezer.

You can also bake eggplant in plates or rings. How to do this, Lubov Kriuk will tell in his video:

Defrosting is usually carried out at room temperature or in the main compartment of the refrigerator. However, for most frozen eggplant dishes, defrosting is not required.

Freezing eggplant at home for the winter is not at all troublesome and simple, even a novice cook can handle it. Such a preparation is especially relevant if you do not have a pantry or closet where you can store conservation. In this case, frozen semi-finished products are the ideal solution for preparing many dishes in the winter. From frozen eggplant, you can create eggplant caviar, ratatouille, casseroles, salads, and so on and so forth.

The only thing that many people forget about when harvesting is the bitterness contained inside the fruit. It must be removed, otherwise, after defrosting, all your stocks will simply have to be disposed of - they will be bitter.

How to do this, you will learn in this recipe by reading it further. To freeze eggplant fresh in the freezer for the winter, you will need about 0.5 kg of eggplant for 1-2 servings. Slicing vegetables can be anything - from small cubes to whole halves - be guided by your taste.

Rinse the eggplants in water and remove the tails from the fruit. Cut them into circles and pour into a deep bowl.

Add table salt, but not iodized!

Pour boiling water over the entire cut, cover with a plate and place oppression on it. Let's leave it for 25 minutes. Thanks to salt and boiling water, slicing will quickly release all the bitterness.

After the specified time, be sure to rinse the eggplant circles several times with cold water. Drain in a colander to remove excess moisture and let cool.

Then pour into a freezer bag or container.

We carefully tie it up or cork the container with a lid and place fresh eggplants in the freezer.

The shelf life of eggplants frozen for the winter is about 1 year. Be aware of the proximity of food in the freezer - eggplant can "pull" the flavor of bell pepper, onion, garlic and parsley, so store them separately.

When cooking, frozen eggplants can not be thawed, unless, of course, the dish itself is cooked within a few minutes. Now you know exactly how to freeze fresh eggplants in the freezer for the winter - cook with pleasure!