Is it possible to freeze eggplant fresh for the winter. Simple ways to freeze eggplant for the winter. How to freeze fresh eggplant

Peppers, zucchini, peas, cauliflower, tomatoes - everything has a place in a large freezer. Some vegetables are enough to cut and throw in the freezer. But there are picky things that, in order to preserve the original taste and nutrients, you will have to tinker with. For example, do you know how to freeze eggplant fresh for the winter, as if just from the garden? Not? Then this article is for you.

Secrets of Freezing Purple Vegetables

Eggplant is a seasonal vegetable, freshly cooked it is eaten mainly in summer and autumn. For the winter, they make canned preparations. But eggplants are not frozen as often as we would like. The fact is that they cannot be frozen raw. Why? Because, a) characteristic bitterness remains in the vegetable, b) something happens to the pulp, and it becomes like a piece of rubber, c) if the eggplants are pre-salted, they will spread during cooking.

So is it possible to freeze eggplant for the winter in principle? Yes, but only after preliminary heat treatment. What does it give?

From the blue leaves an unpleasant bitterness.
The pulp acquires a delicate texture, but does not turn into a puree when cooked.
The vegetable retains useful substances for which they are actually harvested.
Since pre-treatment is done before freezing, a semi-finished product is obtained, respectively, the time for cooking is significantly reduced.
The taste is preserved, like that of a fresh vegetable. It cannot be compared with greenhouse eggplants grown in hydroponics.

As you can see, there are some advantages that are worth tinkering with in season to enjoy a delicious and nutritious vegetable all winter.

Blue heat treatment options

When freezing eggplants for the winter, they must be subjected to heat treatment - at home, one of the following methods is used.

Vegetables are blanched, that is, they are briefly exposed to boiling water or hot steam. Blanching time should not exceed a few minutes - this is enough for the bitterness to go away, and the slices to retain their beautiful natural color and texture. A mandatory element of this method of preparation is rapid cooling in ice water or under a tap.
The eggplant is baked. It turns out an almost finished product, which, after defrosting, is very easy and quick to cook. From the baked blue ones, before sending them to the camera, you need to remove bitterness and excess moisture. The best way to do this is by placing the vegetables under a press.
The eggplant is fried. Vegetables are cut into circles (thicker than usual) or plates, bitterness is removed with salt, and only then fried in a pan. The result is the same semi-finished product for fast food.

As for the slicing method, it depends both on the heat treatment option and on what you plan to cook from eggplant.

Whole fruits and halves for stuffing are most often baked.
Vegetables cut into slices and plates - fried or blanched.
Cubes, half rings are suitable only for blanching.

Top 5 Freeze Eggplant Recipes

Now that you understand the general principles of freezing eggplant for the winter, we offer several recipes tested by our creative housewives in practice.

Roasting whole fruits

For baking, even, regular-shaped, approximately the same size fruits are selected. They are washed, the skin is pierced in several places and sent to the oven on a baking sheet, heated to 180 ° C. Heat treatment time - 30 minutes. It's not scary if the eggplants are not slightly baked, it's even good for keeping the shape of the vegetable.

Baked fruits after the oven should cool slightly. After that, the stalk is removed from them, sent under an impromptu press - they are laid out on a slightly inclined surface, pressed with a cutting board, and a small load is placed on top.

The eggplants that have cooled and freed from excess liquid are put into plastic bags of 2-3 pieces, the air is expelled, tied, frozen.

What can be cooked? After defrosting, whole fruits can be used for stuffing, it is even better to cut them right away or cut them in half. If you peel the skin, you get an excellent preparation for pureed soups and sauces. Sliced vegetables are suitable for salads, vegetable caviar.

Freezing fried rounds

Another way to freeze eggplants for the winter is to fry them in slices. Almost every housewife knows how to do this, but there are nuances that you should pay attention to.

The circles must be plump (at least 1 cm), otherwise they may spread.
To make the flesh absorb less oil, brush the vegetable slices with it before frying, and leave the pan dry. It will be something like grilling.
Place the fried pieces on a paper towel to absorb the remaining fat.
Freezing vegetables is best done by laying them out in a single layer on a flat surface, such as an oiled cutting board. Once the mugs have hardened, they can be put into bags or bowls for final freezing.
It is preferable to pack in volumes at one time, since vegetables cannot be re-frozen.

What can be cooked? Eggplant slices are ideal for stews, sautéed, ajapsandali, roasted with tomatoes and cheese. They can be added to pot roasts.

Freezing "tongues"

It turns out that delicious vegetable rolls with garlic, nut paste and other fillings can be prepared from freezing, and not just fresh eggplant, so it’s worth stocking up on prepared vegetable slices for the winter.

Smooth long fruits are cut into thin plates (0.5–0.8 mm), bitterness and excess liquid are removed with salt, the workpiece is squeezed well, if necessary, blotted with a paper towel. If it is possible to fry the plates in the grill mode, this will be ideal. No - an ordinary frying pan is also suitable, just grease not it with oil, but vegetable slices. Wipe off any remaining oil with a paper towel.

Cooled "tongues", like circles, freeze in two stages. First, in one layer, until they grab, then put them in bags or a container.

What can be cooked? First of all - vegetable rolls with a variety of fillings, then, of course, "mother-in-law's tongue" and eggplant cake. Thawed plates are easy to cut into smaller pieces and add to salads, roasts, stews.

Freezing Blanched Eggplants

This method is one of the most popular, as vegetables after balancing improve their taste, but remain whole and quite dense.

You will need a large pot for boiling water and a colander a little smaller so that it can freely enter it. While the water is boiling, prepare the eggplant. For blanching, they are cut into circles, half rings, cubes, strips, plates - as you need.

Salt boiling water at the rate of 1 tbsp. salt per liter of water. Put the pieces of vegetables in a sieve and lower into the pan for 2-3 minutes. To prevent eggplants from floating up, press them down with a ladle, immersing them in water.

After blanching, the vegetables must be immediately immersed in a container of cold water, then folded into a sieve and allowed to drain well. After that, put on a towel and dry. Now the prepared slices can be sent to the camera, having previously decomposed them into packages.

What can be cooked? This type of blue freezing for the winter goes to hot and cold vegetable dishes - stew, sauté, lecho, vegetable spaghetti dressings. After additional frying, they can be used to prepare snacks in the form of a turret or "peacock tail". Or cook a delicious Korean dish - eggplant hee.

Boats for stuffing

For stuffing, you can use whole eggplants, frozen as described in the first recipe. The second option is to cook "boats" from vegetable halves.

Large fruits are cut in half and boiled in salted water for 10 minutes. It's a little more than just blanching. Having taken it out of boiling water, the blanks are immediately dipped into ice water, kept for 1-2 minutes, then thrown back onto a sieve, allowed to drain. The pulp is selected with a spoon, leaving about a centimeter on the walls. "Boat" is ready. Before laying in the chamber, the remaining moisture is removed from it with a towel or napkin.

What can be cooked? Fill the "boat" with minced meat, vegetable, sprinkle with cheese, send to the oven. To enhance the eggplant "presence" pieces of frozen blue ones are added to the filling.

2 years ago

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Anyone who loves eggplant, I advise you to store them at least a little for the winter in the freeze. In winter, not everyone has the opportunity to buy this delicious fresh vegetable, and sometimes you really want to cook delicious eggplant rolls with garlic or add eggplant to vegetable stew for a change. And stuffed eggplant is just an extraordinary yummy - or

We also love very much, which I also definitely prepare for the winter. Today I want to tell and show how to freeze eggplants for the winter - 3 options - fried plates, blanched chopped eggplants and whole ones for stuffing.

Freezing eggplant at home involves their preliminary heat treatment. If you freeze fresh eggplants, then after defrosting they will be watery and tasteless.

Eggplant for the winter freezing recipes

Recipe 1 - fried eggplant plates

I cut whole eggplant into plates about 3-4 mm thick.

Fry on both sides in vegetable oil. At the same time, I don’t pour oil into the pan, since eggplant absorbs fat very much, but I simply grease the bottom of the pan with a cooking brush in oil. I spread a portion of the eggplant and grease the eggplants themselves on top. Then I flip.

After frying, the eggplant must be completely cooled.

To freeze eggplants, I use cling film and containers with lids. But you can use only cling film or plastic bags. This is up to you.

I cover the bottom of the container with cling film, leaving long enough edges on both sides so that you can then cover the layer of eggplant laid out. For one such serving, I spread about 25-30 fried eggplant plates. This is enough to cook a portion of eggplant rolls in winter.

On the first packed layer, I again lay the cling film in the same way with long edges. I post the next batch. So I fill the entire container. I close the lid and put it in the freezer.

In winter, I take one serving of fried eggplant out of the container, put it in the refrigerator and leave it for several hours or overnight. The next day I cook rolls with filling.

Recipe 2 - eggplant for vegetable stew

I cut the eggplant into large cubes. Spread in a colander or sieve and blanch in boiling salted water for 1-2 minutes. !!! Since eggplants float, you need to submerge them in water with a spoon or slotted spoon.

I spread the blanched eggplants in a large colander or sieve, cover with a plate and put a small load. This is necessary to remove excess water. I leave until completely cool.

For freezing, I take smaller containers - one container per serving. I fill the container not tightly with blanched eggplants, close the lids and put them in the freezer. I also defrost - overnight in the refrigerator.

Recipe 3 - Whole Eggplants

For this frosting, I take small eggplants. I prick each eggplant in several places with a toothpick (you can use a knife or fork) so that they do not burst when heated in the oven. I lay it out on a wire rack, which I put on a baking sheet. I send it to the oven heated to 190 degrees for 30-40 minutes.

Ready-made eggplants are soft and easy to pierce with a match or a toothpick. I cool the eggplant a little, then cut off the tail and cut the “pocket”.

I spread the cut eggplants in a large colander or sieve. cut down. I cover with a plate and put a small weight to remove excess liquid. I leave until completely cool.

I take containers that are suitable in size to lay the eggplant across the container. Just like in the first recipe, I cover it with cling film so that the edges hang down. I spread the eggplants in one row, cover with a film. And I form the next layer-portion.

Defrosting is also overnight in the refrigerator. I stuff such eggplants whole or make stuffed “boats”.

Regardless of which recipe will be frozen (fried, baked, blanched), blue ones need elementary pre-treatment. It is as follows:

Purchased or harvested vegetables should be kept in a dark room. In eggplant, as in all nightshade crops, there is the poison solanine, the amount of which increases in the light in fruits. Bitterness in unprocessed and long-lying blue ones appears precisely from solanine. Especially a lot of it in overripe fruits. Therefore, do not take eggplants with a sluggish skin into work, only young ones with a shiny, elastic skin.
It is necessary to sort out the fruits, rejecting those on which there are damage and rot, and let vegetables of a dark purple, almost black color be processed for processing.
Wash, wipe dry.
Cut into discs (circles) 12-15 mm thick. This is in the case of freezing raw. For fried or blanched eggplant, any other arbitrary cut size, such as cubes, will do.
Sprinkle with salt, shake to evenly distribute the pieces, and then spread them out on several layers of paper towels. This will remove the bitterness from the eggplant along with the juice. However, to guarantee the best taste, you can generally gently peel off the peel. The peculiarities of preparing most blue dishes are such that they completely lose their original appearance, and often become unrecognizable in one or another dish.
If bags are chosen as storage containers, make sure that all excess air is released from them. To pump it out, you can use a straw for cocktails.

On a note

Excess solanine in eggplant is easily detected. If you cut the fruit, and after 10-20 seconds the flesh begins to darken, this means that there is a lot of poisonous substance. To get rid of it, it is better to dissolve 1 tablespoon of salt in a liter of water and hold the chopped eggplant in the solution for about an hour. This operation is required for all freezing methods.

Sign packages for storage: in the freezer, all products are made indistinguishable from each other, and the marking will allow you to get exactly what you need.

Freezing fried eggplant

If you doubt whether it is possible to harvest almost ready-made blue ones, this excellent method has been tried and tested many times. According to the hostesses, he is considered one of the best. Cutting is done according to what the product will be used for. Cubes are suitable for sauteing, tongues for rolls, circles for decorating toasts. We advise you to make a little of each type.

Ingredients:

Eggplant - 0.5 kg;
Salt - 1 tsp;
Vegetable oil - for frying.

Cooking step by step:

After the blue ones, chopped and sprinkled with salt, gave juice under salt, it is necessary to rinse them in running cold water and dry them again.
Stirring, fry in a well-heated pan so that the pieces become evenly golden on all sides.
Place on a wire rack or paper towels to remove excess oil.
Pack the cooled eggplants in polyethylene with a minimum amount of air inside. If you have home equipment for vacuum packaging - generally great! Stack vegetables in portions, 150-200 grams each, to use the entire package at once.
Store at a temperature not higher than minus 5 degrees.

Proper freezing of fried eggplants for the winter at home will save time and allow you to diversify the diet in the absence of fresh produce from the garden. It will always be possible to get a package made by oneself and use it as an alternative to raw blue ones.

Freezing Blanched Eggplants

This method is not only suitable for blue ones. Using the same technology, zucchini is harvested in the freezer for the winter. The bottom line is that the vegetables do not boil soft and remain almost fresh. But they turn out not so hard after defrosting due to the temperature contrast.

Already prepared, that is, washed, chopped, soaked in a salted solution, dip the eggplants into pots of boiling water.
Wait until it boils again, pour everything into a colander, place in ice water.
Remove from it, let it drain, dry the pieces and pack in cling film in portions, without air access.

This is a great proven way to freeze eggplant for the winter. When used in cooking, they are thawed at room temperature. The photo shows that the integrity of the cubes is not broken. They are just as neat as they were before putting them in boiling water. They have not lost their form or color.

How to freeze baked blue ones in the oven

For this method, it is better to peel the vegetable and cut it lengthwise into layers no more than a centimeter thick. In winter, you can make your favorite rolls. They are no different from those that have just been prepared.

Grease a baking sheet with vegetable oil. After cutting, salting, washing and drying, lay the eggplants in one even layer on the sheet. Cover with foil (sprinkle with oil as well) and place in the oven preheated to 180°C for 20-25 minutes.
Cool, pack tightly in portions of about 200 grams and place in the freezer.

If you want to freeze whole blue ones for caviar, send them to the oven, covering them with foil. After half an hour, check the readiness with a toothpick. Place in a bowl and cover with clingfilm to make it easy to remove the skin later. Lay on one cutting board, press another on top. Organize a slope (put a knife or spoon under one edge), place a load. When the liquid has drained and the baked eggplants have cooled, they can be packed for freezing. Put as much product in the bag as you need in the future for one serving.

Freeze Boiled Eggplant Recipe

For this method, vegetables are best peeled. So they will turn out more tender and will be suitable for cooking caviar. You can make it very quickly: take out a bag, put it in a bowl, defrost, chop in a blender bowl, add salt, herbs, garlic, season with oil.

Cook prepared cubes or circles for 6-8 minutes in boiling water.
Drain in a colander, drain completely and pat dry on paper towels. When cooking eggplant slices are very saturated with water, placing them in this state in the freezer means getting pieces of ice.
Place in sealed bags or containers, label and send to freeze.

For cooking each new portion, collect fresh water. This will reduce the concentration of harmful substances that the liquid draws out.

How to defrost and what can be cooked from frozen eggplant

Strong advice - do not use the microwave when defrosting! The principle of its operation is the "rocking" of the molecules of the liquid contained in the products or objects placed in it. And the more intense the microwave radiation, the stronger the molecular vibrations, and already they heat up everything placed inside. This destroys the structure of the water. She becomes dead. Defrosting (defrosting) should be natural, at room temperature.

Eggplants prepared for future use in the freezer are used to make delicious vegetable and meat dishes - festive and everyday, complex and simple. Actually, any recipe from fresh blue ones is easily adapted for them.

eggplant caviar

It doesn't even require defrosting to cook. Fried, baked, boiled or blanched eggplant cuts taken out of the bag, covered with frost, can be immediately sent to the pan. Stew with onions and other vegetables according to your taste preferences. Salt, add spices, herbs. Then you can break through at low speeds in a blender.

Cheese sandwiches

If you want to treat yourself to a beautiful banquet dish, nothing could be easier. Assemble a kind of pyramid. Put a tomato disc on the eggplant circle, repeat the layers again, salt a little. Add a few grains of sugar, crushed garlic in a press, and sprinkle all this on top with grated cheese. Place in preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes.

Roast

Fry the meat and potatoes separately, put them together in ceramic pots. Cover with a layer of browned carrots and onions. Top with a layer of eggplant straight from the freezer. Sprinkle with grated cheese and brush with sour cream. Bake covered in the oven.

rolls

The cheese-garlic mixture is placed on the pre-thawed "tongues", the rolls are rolled up (if necessary, stabbing them with a toothpick) and baked on a baking sheet greased with butter.

What you need to know about eggplant

Black nightshade, and this is exactly what the scientific name sounds like, for all its goodness, it has very little nutritional value - only 28 Kcal. With such a calorie content, the body spends more energy on the breakdown of the product than it extracts. This makes it ideal for those who want not to get fat.

But the same property can be dangerous if a person suffers from diabetes and associated hypoglycemia - a condition when the level of carbohydrates in the blood becomes unacceptably low. So with this disease, you need to eat eggplant with caution. And with problems with the gastrointestinal tract - too. In particular, with gastritis and peptic ulcer.

insomnia;
Depressive conditions;
Kidney diseases;
constipation;
Gout;
anemia;
Atherosclerosis.

It must be borne in mind that in its raw form, trying to freeze eggplant for the winter in the freezer of an ordinary refrigerator is not worth it. At home, they are not very good. Unlike zucchini, which do not have to be cooked before being placed in the chamber, they will turn out to be “rubber”. And they will just take their place in vain. Better spend some time and do everything according to the rules. The result will not disappoint.

I love eggplant, I would eat them all year round! Fortunately, my husband shares my preferences, and we recently got a roomy freezer. Now, without any problems, you can save the surplus of the country harvest for a long time - including the blue ones. And today I want to tell you how to freeze eggplant for the winter in the freezer.

At first, I studied the theory well, found out whether it is possible to freeze eggplants for the winter. After all, blue housewives began to freeze relatively recently. And there is an explanation for this: eggplant - a porous vegetable, like a sponge, easily absorbs odors. In addition, if you freeze it incorrectly, without pre-treatment, then it will turn out bitter and hard, like rubber. This frightened off many cooks. Therefore, I will tell you how to make eggplant blanks for the winter in the freezer, so that they turn out to be both tasty and healthy.

How to freeze fresh eggplant for the winter at home

I will say right away: freezing eggplants in their raw form, without a little heat treatment, does not make sense, we can get an absolutely inedible semi-finished product as a result. There are three options for preparing vegetables: blanching, roasting, and roasting. I will share the simplest recipe first.

Select young ripe blue ones, cut off the back with a tail, wash. Cut into slices from 5 to 8 mm.
Put the eggplant in a bowl, sprinkle well with coarse salt, leave for half an hour. Then recline in a colander, rinse off the allocated juice with running water. The bitterness will go with him.
Put a pot of water on the fire, bring to a boil. Dip a colander with eggplants in a saucepan, cover with a lid, leave at a low boil for two minutes. Then remove the colander, rinse with cold running water, let the liquid drain. Lay the eggplant out on a towel to dry.
We lay out the blue ones in one layer on a large board, cover with a bag. We put in the freezer for 4 hours. If there is a lot of eggplant, you can put several of these servings at once.
We take out the frozen vegetables, put them in special bags for freezing or containers, close them tightly. We put in the freezer.

We store frozen eggplants in the freezer for about six months.

Note: you can freeze whole eggplants, but for this they must first be baked in the oven until half cooked (about half an hour). Lubricate the peel with vegetable oil before baking.

Is it possible to freeze blue cubes

Yes, you certainly may! For example, according to the previous recipe. I will offer you another simple way to freeze diced eggplants in the freezer.

Rinse the young eggplants, dry them, if desired, peel them (you may not peel them). Cut into cubes of your favorite size. For example, 1 cm. If on caviar, it can be smaller.
Prepare a solution at the rate of 1 tbsp. a spoonful of salt per liter of water. Dip the cubes of vegetables into it, leave for 1 hour.
Drain the liquid, rinse under running cold water.
We spread the pieces of vegetables in a saucepan, pour cold water. Add salt and 1 tbsp. a spoonful of lemon juice. Bring to a boil, blanch over low heat for 2-3 minutes.
We take out the blue ones with a slotted spoon, lower them into ice water for a minute. Then drain the liquid, let the vegetables dry.

We spread it in sealed bags or vessels, close it tightly, put it in the freezer.

Tip: it is very important to remove excess air from the bags before freezing. Squeeze out the air with your hands, squeezing the bag. Remains can be pulled out with a cocktail straw, drawing air in like a vacuum cleaner. Reliable tightness will extend the shelf life of the product up to a year.

Other ways to process fresh eggplant:

Microwave baking 3 minutes, power 900 W;
Steam treatment 4 minutes.

How to freeze eggplant for rolls

A very convenient preparation - frozen blue ones for rolls! Making them is easy. I’ll tell you in detail how to freeze eggplants for the winter in the freezer, so that later it would be easy to cook a delicious snack from them.

Wash the blue ones, dry them. We do not remove the skin. Cut off the tails, cut into long slices along. Thickness - about 0.5-0.8 mm.
Place in a deep bowl, sprinkle with salt. We leave for 30-40 minutes. Then rinse thoroughly with water and dry.
Spread baking paper on a baking sheet. Lay out the "tongues" of the blue ones in one layer. Bake at a temperature of 200 degrees for 10-15 minutes.
Take out, let cool. If there are a lot of eggplants, we bake several batches like this.
We cover the tray with cling film, lay out the slices in one layer. If everything does not fit, cover again with foil and lay out the next layer. You can make several of these layers. Keep in the freezer for several hours.

We take out the little blue ones, remove the film, put them in bags or containers for freezing.

Frozen fried eggplant

It is even easier to cook a dish of frozen fried eggplants in winter. They turn out very tasty!

My blue ones, dry them, cut them in any way - as you like.
Sprinkle with salt, leave in a bowl for an hour. Then drain the liquid and rinse. Dry again with paper towel.
Pour vegetable oil into the pan, fry the blue ones in portions - 5 minutes on each side. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on a folded paper towel. Gently blot excess fat.
We spread the cooled blue ones on a board or tray with a film in one layer. If necessary, cover them again with a film and lay out the next layer. We freeze.

We take out, remove the food film. We lay out in portions in sealed bags, close. After defrosting, the little blue ones can be lightly fried again.

Watch another video on how to freeze blue ones correctly.

What can be cooked from frozen blue

Before you cook anything, vegetables must be properly defrosted. The best and most gentle option is to take them out of the freezer, hold them for several hours (preferably overnight) in the refrigerator. They will gradually defrost themselves, while retaining their juiciness and nutrients.

How to choose the right fruits

Take away eggplant according to the same rules that are used for canning:

Peduncle. The color of the tail of the fetus should be green. eggplant, whose peduncle has dried up, freeze it does not follow. Since this indicates that the vegetable was stored for a long time after being plucked from the bush;
Surface quality. Surface eggplant should be glossy, there should be no bumps, growths, damage and spots on it - such a fruit is most suitable for freezing;
Color. It is necessary to choose fruits that are evenly colored;
Maturity and size. Best for frosts fit young eggplant, as large and mature fruits contain a large number of seeds. Their skin and flesh are tougher.

Advice! To avoid the production of the poisonous substance solanine in eggplants, a significant concentration of which is harmful to the health of the body, they should be protected from light during storage. Even a small amount of this component in the composition of the vegetable gives it a bitter taste.

slicing eggplant, received the popular name - blue, you should pay attention to the color of the cut. Its rapid darkening indicates that the fruit will be bitter, as it contains solanine in large quantities. For frosts vegetables with a light cut are more suitable.

How to freeze fresh eggplant for the winter

Freezing blue, they should be stored tightly. Chopped vegetables are placed in a tightly closed package, which prevents penetration to eggplant air in the refrigerator. Thus, the oxidation of fruits and the penetration of foreign odors from other products stored in the freezer to them are prevented. This advice, as well as those described below, helps to implement the correct freezing eggplant, using any of the proposed methods.

It is easy to ensure the tightness of the package using a vacuum cleaner, but you can do without it. Wherein, freezing vegetables, use zip bags and regular cocktail tubes. Having laid the vegetables, the bag is closed almost completely, leaving only a small access for a plastic tube. Having put it inside the bag, the air is drawn out of it with the mouth until the walls of the package stick to the vegetables. Then the tube is carefully removed and the bag is closed completely.

For frozen eggplant at home, you must perform the following steps:

Soak beforehand. This stage of fruit preparation should not be abandoned, otherwise bitterness may remain in them, which will make the product unsuitable for consumption. For this reason, before frosts it is recommended, first of all, to soak the sliced \u200b\u200bfor 30 minutes eggplant in a solution of water with salt, after which they must be washed well in clean water;
Remove moisture. Before placing in the freezer, pieces eggplant should be dried from tread water or excess vegetable oil by blotting with a paper towel;
Sign packaging. In the freezer, plastic containers and bags of vegetables are covered with frost, from which all containers become similar to each other, and determine exactly where they are, for example, eggplant happens not simply.

Reference! Sealed packaging allows you to store frozen eggplants in the freezer (at a temperature of -12 ° C) for no more than a year. Exceeding this shelf life negatively affects the taste characteristics of blue ones.

Important! It is better to freeze eggplant in portions, as much as you need at one time. Otherwise, with repeated freezing and thawing, they lose their taste and useful elements.

Options for processing eggplant for freezing

frying

Is it possible to freeze eggplant for the winter fried? Yes.

Wash up eggplant, cut into slices up to 0.7 cm thick. If you cut them thinner, the pieces will become even smaller during the frying process and will not be suitable for freezing in the freezer;
To get rid of bitterness, salt the vegetables and wait for about 30 minutes. Then rinse with clean water;
Place the pieces on a grill, baking sheet, or similar surface and leave to dry. To speed up the process, you can get wet eggplant with a paper towel;
Add a little vegetable oil to a hot frying pan and lightly fry the circles. eggplant a few minutes on each side. Pieces stop frying when they have a light golden crust;
Arrange the circles eggplant on a wire rack, cool to room temperature and place in the refrigerator to freeze. R ozki at temperatures below -12˚С;
After 90 minutes eggplant take them out of the freezer, remove them from the grid and pack them in bags, sending them back to the freezer, where they are stored until used;
Put stickers on bags eggplant, indicating the name, weight and method used to prepare the product for freezing;
You can cut the blue ones in the form of cubes or sticks, depending on the plans for cooking after defrosting vegetables.

baking

Slice eggplant into circles or slices, which are great for the subsequent preparation of rolls;
Preheat the oven until the temperature in it reaches 180˚C;
Place the blue ones on a baking sheet greased with vegetable oil and send them to the oven for half an hour;
After a quarter of an hour, the pieces are turned over so that both sides of the sliced \u200b\u200bare baked. eggplant;
Then repeat the same steps that are indicated for fried eggplant: dried, placed in the freezer for 30 minutes, packaged in packages as much as needed for 1 time, ensure tightness inside them, stick stickers, and then store in the freezer until use.

Extinguishing

Add a small amount of vegetable oil to the saucepan and heat it;
Lay out the pieces eggplant and, stirring from time to time, simmer vegetables until cooked, you can add salt and pepper to taste;
Remove from heat and cool to room temperature;
Transfer the stews eggplant into packages or containers and send to freezing into the freezer.

Blanching

Pour water into a saucepan, boil, salt well and add 1 tbsp. a spoonful of lemon juice (you can squeeze fresh juice from half a fruit);
Pieces eggplant boil in boiling water for about 5 minutes;
Remove the vegetables with a slotted spoon and immediately lower them into ice water;
Take out, dry eggplant;
After that, the blue ones can freeze.

Cooking

Cut off the tails of the fruit, pierce deeply in different parts eggplant needle or toothpick;
Soak the vegetables for 45 minutes in a solution of table salt, removing bitterness, such a long time is necessary due to the fact that the processing of the blue ones is carried out in a whole, unground form;
Pour water into a saucepan, boil, then boil in it for 20 minutes eggplant, from which the bitterness has previously been removed;
During the boil, the vegetables shrivel, they should be cooled and chopped using any convenient method, after which the product is ready for freezing.

Freezing the whole fruit

eggplant exposed to high temperatures without peeling. To do this, vegetables in general can be sent to stew in a slow cooker, baked on a grill or boiled using the method described above;
Then cool the little blue ones and dry the moisture from their surface with a paper towel;
Separately, carefully wrap the vegetables in a dense layer in cling film and send to the freezer.

Advice! Whole eggplant fruits can be frozen, keeping the skin or peeling the vegetables from it, depending on the form in which they will be eaten.

Blanks for rolls

Incredibly convenient to cook rolls from frozen eggplant, using special blanks. For this:

Rinse and dry vegetables without peeling;
Remove stems, cut eggplant lengthwise into long slices 5-8 mm thick;
Fold in a container of suitable size, salting each layer;
Leave for half an hour, then rinse well in clean water and dry;
Lay out slices from eggplant in one layer on baking paper, which is covered with a baking sheet, and bake in the oven at 200 ° C for about 15 minutes;
eggplant be sure to bake in one layer, if necessary, in several batches;
Then get a baking sheet and cool the vegetables;
Spread cling film on a tray, spread out the “tongues” eggplant one layer, if necessary to place many layers, each layer should be covered on top using a film, after which freeze pieces within a few hours;
Then take out the blanks and arrange them in bags or containers, getting rid of the film.

Defrost Rules

Freezing vegetables are recommended to be carried out no more than once. Therefore, repeated freezing eggplant after defrosting is prohibited. For this reason, it is necessary to correctly distribute the portions of the blue ones in the packages before placing them in the freezer. In this case, you can easily use the amount of vegetables that is required in each specific situation. The following are the ways to use the product:

To unfreeze eggplant, you can simply take them out of the freezer, arrange them on a large plate and leave to defrost at room temperature, without using auxiliary electrical appliances;
To prepare some dishes, it is not necessary to defrost vegetables, in this case, start frying or boiling eggplant you can immediately after taking them out of the freezer.

Watch the video! How to freeze eggplant for the winter

Frozen Eggplant Recipes

Eggplant caviar

We will need:

1 kg eggplant;
3 onions;
3 carrots;
70 ml of sunflower oil;
Salt, pepper, spices to taste.

How to cook:

fry onions and carrots;
add defrosted eggplant, diced, salt, pepper, season with spices;
stew when the dish is almost ready, add a little chopped garlic;

Potatoes fried with blue

We will need:

0.5 kg eggplant;
2 onions;
0.5 potatoes;
70 ml of sunflower oil;
2 cloves of garlic;
Salt, pepper, spices to taste.

How to cook:

fry onions and potatoes in different pans and eggplant, cut into cubes or circles;
then mix the ingredients and fry a little more, adding a small amount of garlic, spices and herbs.

Eggplant rolls

defrost the “tongues” of the blue ones, put the filling on top to taste, place in a baking dish;
grate the cheese and sprinkle over the pieces eggplant, bake in the oven until the dish is ready.

Vegetable ragout

We will need:

0.5 kg eggplant;
3 onions;
3 carrots;
3 bell peppers;
2 tomatoes;
70 ml of sunflower oil;
2 cloves of garlic;
100 g cheese (Dutch, Russian)
Salt, pepper, spices to taste.

How to cook:

defrost and fry eggplant, add chopped vegetables to taste, the dish can be prepared using onions, carrots, bell peppers;
stew when the stew is almost ready, you can add an arbitrary amount of chopped tomatoes, garlic, seasonings and herbs, if desired;
grate the cheese, sprinkle it on the dish and let the cheese melt under the lid.

Buckwheat porridge with eggplant

We will need:

500 g buckwheat porridge
0.3 kg eggplant;
2 onions;
50 g butter;
Salt, pepper, spices to taste.

How to cook:

boil buckwheat, 2-3 hard boiled eggs;
fry the onion with eggplant;
add butter, chopped eggs, fried vegetables to the porridge, season with spices and herbs as desired.

Casserole with meat and eggplant

We will need:

250 g of any minced meat (chicken, pork, beef);
500 g eggplant;
50 ml sunflower oil;
salt, pepper, spices to taste.
1 raw egg;
200 ml of milk;
2 tomatoes;
150 g of cheese (Dutch, Russian);
2 cloves of garlic.

How to cook:

take a little minced meat from any meat, a couple of cloves of garlic, a raw egg, salt, season with pepper and other spices, mix all the ingredients;
distribute the mixture in a baking dish and a little on its sides, put on top eggplant, which must first be thawed and fried;
put sliced tomatoes on them, beat the egg, add milk to it, pour the mixture into a mold, grate the cheese, sprinkle it with a dish and bake in the oven.

Eggplant Paste with Nuts

We will need:

500 g eggplant;
50 ml sunflower oil;
salt, pepper, spices to taste.
1 teaspoon of vinegar;
3 art. spoons of walnuts;
2 cloves of garlic.

How to cook:

defrost vegetables, fry them with vegetable oil, mash with a fork;
add vinegar, some walnuts and garlic, which are pre-chopped;
season with cilantro and other herbs if desired, mix and garnish with pomegranate seeds.

Very appetizing are soups or hodgepodges with the addition of frying with eggplant, there are also many recipes for delicious salads with blue ones.

Useful properties of the product

eggplant, fresh and frozen, rich in substances beneficial to human health:

vitamins C and group B;
trace elements (calcium, phosphorus, potassium);
pectin and fiber.

The vitamins that make up the vegetable are not very diverse, but eggplant are known for their low calorie content and pectin content, which improves the functioning of the digestive system, helps to remove bile and excess cholesterol. Potassium relieves the body of excess fluid, normalizes the functioning of the cardiovascular system. For these purposes, it is especially useful to use fruits in a baked or stewed form. eggplant help prevent diseases such as atherosclerosis, anemia, osteoporosis, osteochondrosis, gout.

Reference! Due to the content of vitamin PP (niacin) in eggplants, they help fight nicotine addiction, alleviating the symptoms of “nicotine starvation”.

Application of frozen eggplant has no fundamental differences from the use of fresh. However, the taste of the latter is more expressive and strong. For this reason, it is easier to prepare an appetizing dish with fresh, quality vegetables purchased from a store or market. And if this is not possible, frozen foods can be an excellent option to diversify your diet. eggplant.

Watch the video! Freezing eggplant for the winter