The fashion for healthy eating and a healthy lifestyle has made the freezing of vegetables and berries one of the most popular ways to store summer crops.
It is very convenient to harvest frozen eggplant for the winter.
After defrosting, the "little blue ones" do not lose any beneficial properties or taste. They can be used for cooking in the same way as fresh vegetables. The main thing is not to spoil the eggplant with improper handling and storage.
How to freeze eggplant for long-term storage?
Frozen eggplant for the winter - general principles of preparation
Suitable for freezing are young, thin-skinned “blue” with small seeds. First of all, whole fruits without signs of spoilage should be washed well, cut off the tails, and dried. What's next? The temptation is simply to chop the vegetables, put them in a bag and put them in the freezer. But this cannot be done.
Before freezing, eggplant must be processed: first soak in salt water, then undergo any heat treatment. If this is not done, then after freezing, beautiful slices or cubes will turn into an unappetizing bitter gruel that can only be thrown away.
Soaking in salt water is necessary in order to rid the fruits of the characteristic bitterness. Heat treatment allows you to destroy the enzyme, which leads to damage to eggplant. Eggplants can be fried, blanched, baked, stewed. Only after that they are sent to the freezer.
Frozen eggplant for the winter can be left whole, but they will take up a lot of space in the freezer. If the freezer is small, you need to chop the vegetables. Compact cubes, circles, plates, straws, whetstones are more convenient in storage. Small pieces freeze faster.
Prepared eggplant is poured with salted water, then dried on a paper or cloth towel. It will remain to heat vegetables, pack and send to the freezer.
How to freeze eggplant after heat treatment?
First way - just put them in a suitable container in small portions. For storage, special dense freezer bags or plastic food containers will do.
Second way - pre-freeze (before folding vegetables into bags or containers). To do this, slices need to be spread out in a thin layer on a cutting board. Freeze pieces of eggplant in 3-5 hours, depending on the thickness.
Fried Frozen Eggplant for Winter
The easiest eggplant ice cream recipe for the winter. The fruits remain whole, so harvesting can be done very quickly. Each eggplant is wrapped in a separate bag, so getting and using them is very convenient.
Ingredients:
• 3-5 medium eggplants.
Cooking method:
Prepare vegetables, dry well after washing.
Heat the pan, then reduce the heat to a minimum.
Put eggplant on the dry bottom of the pan, fry on all sides. Turn over on time so that the vegetables do not burn.
When the eggplant is slightly softened, excess moisture and bitterness will leave them.
Remove from the “blue” skin, cool.
How to freeze eggplant whole? Each fruit is put in a plastic bag or piece of cling film and sent to the freezer.
Blanched Frozen Eggplant for the Winter
Another way to prepare frozen eggplant for the winter is to blanch small slices in boiling water.
Ingredients:
• five small young eggplant;
• a tablespoon of salt;
• two liters of pure water for blanching;
• two liters of ice water.
Cooking method:
Carefully washed and dried eggplant, cut into neat cubes or beautiful circles no thicker than one and a half centimeters.
Fold the vegetables in a bowl, sprinkle with salt and leave alone for half an hour.
To boil water.
Separately prepare ice or just very cold water.
Put eggplant in a colander and put in boiling water for two minutes.
Remove and immediately immerse in ice water.
Arrange the blanched eggplant on a dry napkin or towel and wait for it to dry completely.
Arrange slices in plastic containers, trying to form single servings.
Put in the freezer.
Periodically check for moisture.
Fried Frozen Eggplant for Winter
It is very tasty to prepare eggplants for the winter, having previously fried them in oil. It turns out a completely ready-to-eat dish that can be eaten immediately after defrosting. How to freeze eggplant in this way?
Ingredients:
• four young medium-sized eggplants;
• a spoon of medium grinding salt;
• three tablespoons of oil.
Cooking method:
Washed and dried "blue" cut into even circles and dry.
Pour a portion of oil into the pan and heat it well.
Spread eggplant in one layer, fry slices on both sides to a delicious crust.
Lay out the fried eggplant on a plastic film in one layer and put in the freezer overnight.
Take out the frozen slices, quickly arrange them in bags or containers and return to the freezer.
Oven eggplant for winter from the oven
Does not require much preparation processing eggplant in the oven. The main thing is not to overdo the slices in the oven.
Ingredients:
• several eggplants selected for freezing;
• tea boat vegetable oil.
Cooking method:
Cut eggplant into small cubes, as for ordinary vegetable stew.
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
Lubricate the baking sheet or baking dish with a little vegetable oil.
Put the eggplant cubes in the prepared form and put in the oven for ten minutes.
Take out the mold several times to mix the eggplants for even stewing. This must be done very carefully to maintain the shape of the cut.
Remove the pan from the oven and let the vegetables cool completely.
Pack cold stewed eggplants in portions and freeze.
Whole baked eggplant for the winter
The easiest way to harvest eggplant for the winter is to take note of working women. Everything is done very simply. The beauty of the recipe is that you can cook almost any dish from such a workpiece.
Ingredients:
• three to four eggplants;
• a table boat of oil to lubricate the pan.
Cooking method:
Wash the "blue ones" and wipe with a towel.
Make a fork with punctures on the surface of vegetables in 3-4 places.
Turn on the oven 200 degrees.
Grease a baking sheet with oil and lay out the eggplant.
Bake in a preheated oven for 30-40 minutes.
Allow the eggplants to cool.
Carefully remove the skin.
Put in separate bags and freeze.
Grilled eggplant for winter
Instead of ovens and pans, grilled eggplant slices can be thermally treated. It is very convenient to do this in a special grill pan. Only chop the vegetables with beautiful long strips. It is very tasty to make eggplant rolls from such blanks, wrapping cheese, nuts, and minced meat in strips.
Ingredients:
• three large eggplants.
Cooking method:
Each eggplant carefully, using a sharp knife, cut into long thin strips.
Preheat the grill pan (do not add oil).
Fry the eggplant on both sides.
When the barrel is lightly browned, put them on napkins and cool.
Pre-freeze in one layer, then pack in portions.
Frozen eggplant for the winter - tricks and tips
- Eggplants frozen for the winter can be thawed in different ways: in the microwave, on the shelf of the refrigerator, in the kitchen at normal air temperature. It is unacceptable to thaw slices in hot water: they will turn into a tasteless and completely useless porridge.
- For many dishes, pre-thawing eggplants is not required. Slices can be sent immediately to a pan or to a baking sheet to fry with other vegetables or bake with fish, meat, chicken and cheese.
- Frozen foods with strong odors cannot be kept near eggplants. "Little blue ones" easily absorb extraneous aromas. That is why you should not place them for the winter either next to the fish or near a bag of dill.
- From plastic bags you need to try to remove all the air. You can iron the bags with your palms or draw out the air with a regular cocktail straw.
- If eggplants are frozen in many ways, containers or bags are worth signing. So you will definitely know what vegetables to get and which dish to cook from them.
- At temperatures below 14 degrees, frozen eggplant is stored no longer than six months. During this time they need to be eaten.
