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People often wonder about the right way to freeze eggplant, as the season for these vegetables is not as long as we would like. To preserve the taste of this vegetable until winter, first of all, it is worth understanding that they cannot be frozen raw. That is why methods were invented to help deal with their preservation for a long time.
Blue ones can be frozen, for this the fruits should at least be soaked. Raw, they can not be sent to the freezer. Don't forget about freeze times. This product can be stored in the freezer for up to 1 year. In this case, the temperature should be at a level not higher than -18 degrees.
Speaking of re-freezing, this is not recommended.
Selection and preparation of fruits for freezing
In order for eggplant freezing to be successful, first of all, you should pay attention to the fact that when buying vegetables, they are fresh and without signs of spoilage.
Among the other selection rules, the following can be distinguished:
- The peel of vegetables is even and smooth, without visible damage.
- When pressed, the vegetable should quickly restore its shape, which will indicate an elastic pulp.
- Fresh fruits are always heavy. A vegetable 15-17 centimeters long weighs about 500 grams.
- An eggplant is ideal, the pulp of which has White color, and upon contact with air for a long time retains its appearance. In this case, the seeds should not have bad smell and be dark. If there are no such signs, most likely, the freezing will fail.
- For such purposes, it is better to give preference to small fruits, since large specimens contain more corned beef, which gives a bitter taste.
- It is also worth paying attention to the stalk. In fresh vegetables, it is green and wrinkle-free.
- In no case should overripe fruits be used, as evidenced by a wrinkled peel or dryness on it.
When vegetables are selected, it is worth thinking about proper preparation. To do this, they must be cut and then make sure that they are freed from excess water, since otherwise there is a chance that they will turn into porridge.
The next step is to perform heat treatment, it can be baking, blanching, frying or stewing.
How to properly prepare your refrigerator
The preparation of the refrigerator is to provide free space in order to freely put the vegetables. If a non-sealed container is used, the temperature in the freezer should be maintained at -18 degrees. When using sealed dishes, -12 is enough.
The best recipes for freezing eggplant at home
Today, housewives use a lot of ways to store blue ones in the freezer. After they can be consumed as a main product or added to salads. Regardless of the freezing option, it is worth considering even the smallest details of the process, as otherwise there is a high probability that the vegetables will lose their taste or shape.
Whole fruits
To preserve whole eggplants in the freezer, buy young and not spoiled vegetables. Next, the raw fruits should be washed well, without tearing off the stalk, and placed in the peel in a pan. At the same time, it is recommended to set the minimum value for the fire on the stove so that the vegetables do not burn.
When they are cooked, they should definitely get rid of the bitter skin and wrap in cling film after cooling. Further, the blanks can be laid in a sudok and sent for freezing.
This method is considered one of the most convenient, as it allows you to get the fruits at any time, and, since they are whole, cook from them delicious food. In most cases, such frozen fruits are prepared eggplant caviar.
Another common option is to add them to tomatoes, which will provide the taste of a summer dish.
with blanching
To prepare blanks using blanching, it is worth preparing a pot of water, salt and lemon juice. When the water boils, salt it and pour one tablespoon lemon juice. Next, you can lower the pieces of eggplant there and boil for no more than 5 minutes.
After they can begin to take out and dip in ice water. Pawn in courts and in freezer fruits can only be when they are fully cooled and dried.
Freezing in strips or cubes
To prepare a vegetable cut into strips or cubes for the winter, it is worth buying hard eggplant, but at the same time ripe. You can cut them into pieces, about 2 by 2 centimeters in size. If, after freezing, they go to cook stews, it is worth peeling the fruits.
If you need to freeze a vegetable cut into strips for rolls, it is not necessary to peel the peel. When it comes to freezing raw eggplant, you can start soaking it, and then dry it well, place it in an airtight container and send it to freeze.
Freezing eggplant baked in the oven
In order to successfully freeze stewed eggplants and at the same time preserve their taste, it is advisable to cut the vegetables into cubes. Next, preheat the oven to 190 degrees. The form, baking sheet or pan is greased with vegetable oil. Now you can put eggplant cubes here and simmer for at least 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
At the same time, it is not necessary to salt the vegetable. This can be done at will. After the specified time, the eggplants can be removed from oven and let them cool to room temperature.
The container is used directly for freezing. For convenience, it is advisable to place a sticker on it with an inscription on how exactly the vegetable was processed and the date of cooking. Frozen stewed fruits are well suited for making crumble with vegetables.
Freezing stewed fruits
If the goal is freezing stewed vegetables, here it is worth adhering to the same scheme as when baking in the oven. To peel the fruit from the peel or not - this can be decided at your discretion. It all depends on what kind of dishes a person is going to cook after defrosting.
If the cook has not yet decided on this, it is still better to peel the eggplants, since in this case you can cook anything from them, and not be afraid for the taste with bitterness, which will not always be appropriate.
boiled eggplant
So that frozen vegetables do not turn out to be bitter in the future, they should be deeply pierced with a toothpick in several places. Next, the fruits can begin to boil as a whole. Compared to boiling in pieces, they should be in boiling water 3 times longer. Before this, do not forget to salt the water. When the eggplants are ready, they are pulled out and left to cool completely.
After they can begin to cut into pieces, and at the same time dry well with a towel.
Pan fried
Eggplant fried in a pan is frozen according to the following scheme:
- First you need to choose fresh eggplant. Before cooking, they are washed well, cut into necessary way and soaked in water;
- after the water should be drained and the vegetables dried well;
- then vegetable oil is poured into the pan, heated a little, and then eggplants are laid out for thorough frying;
- so that in the future too much fat is not absorbed into the vegetable, it is better to put the finished product on a paper towel that absorbs moisture well;
- when the fruits have cooled, they are laid out on a wooden flat surface and wrapped with a film. After they are ready to be sent for freezing;
- if there are a lot of vegetables, they can be folded according to the same principle in several tiers. After a couple of hours, when the fruits freeze well, they can be taken out of the refrigerator and placed in a container with a tight lid or in an airtight bag.
Terms and rules of storage
As mentioned earlier, eggplant in any form is not recommended to be stored in the freezer for more than 12 months. In order for them to retain their taste, if whole vegetables are sent to the freezer, they should be rid of the stalk.
Frozen vegetables are best kept in containers that can be closed as tightly as possible. If air gets inside, the shelf life will be reduced.
At the same time, it should be understood that the success of freezing directly depends on how correctly the fruits were prepared. If mistakes were made during the drying or soaking process, in the future this will lead to the fact that the eggplant will be spoiled and become unfit for human consumption.
How to defrost food
In some cases, frozen blue ones can be cooked immediately, without any defrosting. Another frequently used option is to move them to the refrigerator, where they will thaw gradually. Sometimes it's more relevant to lay them out on a flat surface and leave to defrost at room temperature.
What can be cooked after defrosting
The most common dishes that are prepared from frozen eggplants are:
- Caviar. To prepare it, you can use fruits with a preliminary heat treatment, and at the same time cut into completely different pieces. In this case, no recommendations are provided, since the blue ones are crushed to a puree consistency during the cooking process.
- Rolls. To do this, baked or fried fruits are defrosted and wrapped inside a mixture of cheese, garlic and herbs.
- Roast in pots. For such a dish, it is better to cut the fruits into small cubes. They are placed in pots with meat, as well as other ingredients, and then placed in the oven.
- Turrets of tomato, blue and grated cheese. To prepare such a dish, vegetables are cut into rings. Before cooking, they should be completely thawed and warmed to room temperature. Next, you can arrange tomatoes on them and sprinkle with grated cheese on top.
In most cases, from thawed blue ones, you can cook everything the same as from fresh ones. If the freezing was done correctly, it will not affect the palatability this fruit.
Useful qualities of eggplant
Concentrated in the blue ones a large number of various minerals and vitamins. That is why eggplant should be present in the diet of any person who wants to be healthy. Thanks to potassium salts, fruits have a positive effect on blood vessels and heart performance.
Doctors advise people who have problems with metabolism to eat these vegetables. They will also be useful for pain in the digestive tract, kidneys and liver. The fruits are still rich in fiber, which has a positive effect on bowel function. Eggplants will also prove to be beneficial for people who are on a diet, as they contain only 28 kilocalories.
Eggplants frozen for the winter do not spoil for several months and retain their unique taste and vitamins. Freezing eggplants (“blue ones”) is quite simple, without the use of complex processing. Unlike freezing other vegetables, they require an additional approach and time.
Eggplants are frozen not only fresh, but also raw. But it should be noted that they are stored raw for no more than six months. When the eggplant is frozen, it has no smell, but it may well draw others into it. Therefore, they should be stored in the freezer separately from other strong-smelling foods in a closed container or tightly wrapped in cling film.
How to freeze eggplant
There are three freezing methods:
- roasting;
- blanching;
- soaking.
Eggplants need to be washed well, cut off the stalk, cut into pieces. Smaller pieces will freeze faster, while larger pieces will take a longer (longer) time to freeze. Next, pieces of prepared eggplant are placed in salt water for half an hour, while bitterness is removed from them. At the end of the period, eggplants are pulled out of the water, placed on a towel until complete removal excess moisture.
For quick freezing eggplant:
- fry the blue ones in a pan with a minimum addition of vegetable oil and cool. We blanch, dipping initially in boiling water, and then in cold water;
- dry the blue ones, put them in a bag or wrap them in cling film and put them in the freezer.
These vegetables are best stored in plastic utensils, placing them as close to each other as possible in order to save space. It takes about 5 hours to freeze small pieces. You can defrost eggplant in a warm place, in a skillet or using a microwave.
After freezing, eggplant retains its flavor remarkably. To some, it resembles the taste of mushrooms. To verify this or vice versa to refute this statement, we will prepare several dishes from the recipes below. It should be remembered that you need to take out exactly as many eggplants from the freezer as required by the recipe. Otherwise, they cannot be re-frozen.
Salad
Ingredients:
- frozen eggplant - 1 kg;
- onion greens - 1 bunch;
- eggs - 3 pcs.;
- mayonnaise - 250 gr.;
- vegetable oil - 50 gr.;
- salt to taste.
Cooking:
- Defrost eggplant, fry in vegetable oil, salt and bring to softness over subdued heat;
- Put the prepared eggplant in a bowl until cool;
- During this time, boil 3 eggs, peel them and cut into cubes;
- Peel, wash and cut onion feathers;
- Mix all the ingredients, add mayonnaise and salt to taste.
Fried potatoes with eggplant
Ingredients:
- eggplant - 250 gr.;
- potatoes - 0.5 kg;
- bulb - 1 pc.;
- rast. oil - 50 gr.;
- salt and pepper.
Cooking:
- Defrost eggplant, cut into pieces or strips;
- Cut potatoes into strips, onion rings;
- Fry onions and potatoes in a pan with oil;
- Separately, in a second frying pan, fry the eggplant until golden brown;
- When the potatoes and onions are almost ready, add eggplants to it, add salt and pepper and simmer it all over low heat for about 13 minutes.
Saute
Ingredients:
- bell pepper - 300 gr.;
- zucchini - 500 gr.;
- blue ones - 500 gr.;
- tomato - 2 tablespoons;
- pumpkin - 0.5 kg;
- greens - a bunch;
- onion - 1 pc.;
- salt and pepper;
- vegetable oil - 50 gr.
Cooking:
- Defrost the eggplant first.
- Cut all vegetables into cubes;
- First, sauté the onion in a frying pan with oil;
- Add the rest of the vegetables, tomato, chopped greens, salt and pepper to it and simmer for a couple more minutes under the covered lid.
Stew
Ingredients:
- little blue ones - 2 pcs.;
- tomato - 2 pcs.;
- bulb - 1 pc.;
- carrot - 1 pc.;
- pepper - 3 pcs.;
- greens - a bunch;
- garlic - a few cloves;
- vegetable oil - 50 gr.
Cooking:
- Wash vegetables well;
- Cut the onion into strips and fry it in vegetable oil until cooked;
- Add carrots, also previously chopped into strips, to the onion and bring to half-cookedness;
- Remove the skin from the eggplant, cut into pieces and salt;
- We add them to the onions and carrots and also bring them to half-cookedness;
- Add chopped pepper, tomato and salt to taste;
- We mix all the vegetables, put the squeezed garlic and herbs, and transfer to a cast-iron bowl;
- We send the cast iron to the oven for a quarter of an hour;
- Ready stew served with any sauce.
Meat casserole
Ingredients:
- chicken fillet - 1 kg;
- garlic - 6 cloves;
- 2 medium carrots;
- onions - 2 heads;
- cheese - 200 gr.;
- 4 eggs;
- eggplant - 400 gr.;
- tomato - 5 pcs.;
- spices and salt to taste.
Cooking:
- We twist the chicken fillet in a meat grinder or grind it with a blender;
- Finely chop carrots and onions;
- We combine the cooked onions and carrots with minced meat, put the eggs and mix;
- In the resulting mass, add chopped garlic, spices and herbs;
- We mix everything well;
- Lubricate the form with oil, put one part of the minced meat into it;
- Blue cut into cubes, salt;
- Fry them in a pan until soft;
- We put the little blue ones on top of the minced meat laid in the form;
- Cut the tomatoes into rings and lay on top of the eggplants;
- We put the form in the oven for a quarter of an hour;
- Finely rub the cheese;
- Then we take out the form with the casserole, sprinkle with cheese and send it to languish for another 7-12 minutes;
- The casserole is served at the table as an independent dish.
I have my own way of freezing eggplant for the winter. Or rather - three options for freezing eggplant. Some eggplants I freeze baked, some fried, and some raw. Each of these types of eggplant freezing in winter has an application. I already wrote that we love very much. To be able to cook this salad at any time, I began to wonder if it was possible to freeze eggplants for the winter. But none of the recipes worked, and I thought - why not try freezing baked eggplant in the way I cook them for salad? Bake on fire, peel and chop with a knife. Pack into bags and freezer.
The decision turned out to be successful, and for several years now we have been preparing our favorite baked eggplant salad. all year round. For other dishes, there are two more ways to freeze eggplant for the winter: freezing eggplant for the winter fried and raw. Fried eggplants can be added to vegetable caviar, spaghetti and rice sauces, vegetable stews, and raw ones can be used for cooking. different snacks, marinate with vinegar and spices, make eggplant caviar, salads, stew with vegetables. In general - there would be eggplants, but they can be used in winter!
How to freeze eggplant for the winter recipe with photo
Eggplants for each type of freezing must be selected carefully. For baking, it is better to take medium-sized pot-bellied eggplants, not very hard. For frying and freezing raw, long eggplants are suitable, preferably young ones in which there are few seeds.
To freeze eggplant for the winter, we need:
- eggplant;
- ziplock bags or thick plastic bags;
- flame divider (we will put it on the burner);
- vegetable oil for frying eggplant;
- coarse table salt;
- a heavy knife with a wide blade (it is convenient for them to chop baked eggplants).
How to freeze baked eggplant for the winter
Wash plump medium-sized eggplants thoroughly, wipe dry. We pierce with a knife or fork in several places (otherwise they will burst). We put a flame spreader on the burner (you can see it in the photo, this is such a metal circle with small holes). Three medium eggplants or two large or four small ones are placed on the divider. Turn on a strong fire and kitchen hood(or open the window), otherwise all the smoke will go into the apartment. We bake eggplants until they turn black and a burnt crust appears. There will be a smell of burnt eggplant, but that's how it should be. Turn over and bake on all sides. In general, one batch will take about 15 minutes, eggplants are baked quickly. You can bake in the oven, it is not so troublesome, but there will be no specific taste and aroma of a fire, you will get ordinary baked eggplants. If there is no divider, you can adapt the grate for this purpose, and cover the surface of the stove with foil so that you do not have to wash off the baked eggplant juice.
Take out the baked eggplant. Leave to cool for 4-5 minutes, no longer. Hold the tail with one hand, remove the burnt peel with the other. We cut the peeled eggplant along the entire length, unfold it and place one next to the other in a deep bowl or colander for half an hour. Bitter juice will gradually drain.
We chop the eggplant with a heavy knife into the gruel. Not necessarily homogeneous, with pieces of pulp even tastier.
We lay out the chopped eggplant in bags. I make a serving of three eggplants, just enough to make a salad with baked eggplant and tomatoes. We wrap the packages, send them to the freezer. Everything, baked eggplants are frozen for the winter. In winter, they can be used to make vegetable caviar, add to sauces, gravies and make delicious salads, caviar with mayonnaise or fried vegetables.
How to freeze fried eggplant for the winter
For frying, we select medium-sized eggplants, preferably young ones. We cut into cubes measuring 2.5x2.5 cm (or so). Sprinkle with salt, leave for half an hour. Bitter juice will stand out, it must be drained. Then we pour cold water, lightly squeeze out moisture. Dry on a towel.
We heat the oil in a frying pan (a little, 2 tablespoons of oil is enough for two eggplants). Pour the eggplant, fry over medium heat for 10-12 minutes, until a light golden crust appears.
We shift the eggplants to a plate (if you need to remove the oil, then on a napkin), cool. Thus, fry all the prepared eggplants. When cool, we pack in bags, laying out the amount you need in each.
How to freeze fresh eggplant for the winter
There is an opinion that it is not recommended to freeze fresh eggplants, that supposedly they are bitter and become rubbery. At the expense of rubber, I do not know, I did not notice anything like that. And I remove the bitterness very simply: I cut the eggplant into cubes and sprinkle with coarse salt.
I leave it in a colander for 25-30 minutes, the bitterness drains (I put a plate under the colander), the taste of eggplant becomes softer. I wash it from salt (required!), Wring it out lightly and lay it out on a plate covered with polyethylene in one layer. I put it in the freezer. I pour frozen eggplants into a bag, in winter I use it as needed. It turns out very tasty. It just needs fresh (or fresh frozen) eggplant, try it - the salad is delicious, simple and quick to prepare.
I hope my tips on how to freeze eggplant for the winter will be useful to you. And if you have your own way of freezing eggplant for the winter or questions - write in the comments to the recipe.
Homemade preparations allow you to enjoy the taste of seasonal vegetables in the cold season. They can be consumed individually or added to a meal. If almost everyone has jars with cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers at home, then only skillful housewives prepare eggplants for the winter. Recipes with this product vary depending on the type and personal preference.
Is it possible to freeze eggplant
Rich in vitamins such as potassium and phosphorus, these vegetables are called blue for their color. In order for valuable substances to remain inside the eggplant and allow them to nourish the body in winter during beriberi, they must be properly preserved. Fresh nightshade will not be able to lie for a long time, and it is not suitable for salting. A way that is sparing for useful elements is the preservation of vegetables in conditions with low temperatures. When asked whether it is possible to freeze eggplants for the winter, there is only one correct answer - it is not possible, but necessary!
How to freeze eggplant for the winter
Every housewife has her own secrets of preparing delicious food for the winter. Most of them agree that blue ones must be subjected to some kind of heat treatment before freezing: the product can be baked, boiled or fried. A much smaller number of cooks suggest that fresh vegetables can also be frozen. the right way how to freeze eggplant for the winter does not exist: everyone focuses on their taste preferences. It is important that the vegetables are free from excess moisture, which will turn into ice when frozen.
Pan fried
To get a delicious and healthy snack in winter, you need to freeze it in summer or autumn. If you are a connoisseur of thermally processed eggplants, then this recipe is perfect. The list of ingredients is remarkably simple:
- eggplant;
- vegetable oil;
- salt.
The step-by-step algorithm for the workpiece looks like this:
- Wash the blue ones running water, wipe dry with a towel.
- You can cut the eggplant at your discretion: circles or cubes.
- Prepare a small frying pan by pouring just a little bit of oil into it.
- While the pan is heating up, season the eggplant pieces thoroughly with salt.
- Fry nightshade until light golden brown, cool them.
- Lay a polyethylene bag on the bottom of a shallow container, then a vegetable layer. Each of the eggplant tiers must be separated by bags or film.
- The next day, the snack should be spent in the freezer, after which they can be decomposed inside a more convenient container.
- You need to defrost on a couple or in a pan.
Freezing eggplant baked in the oven
It is possible to save blue ones by pre-baking. This method will allow you to do without oil at all or with less than when frying. For cooking, you need to use the following products:
- eggplant;
- milk;
- salt;
- vegetable oil.
You need to prepare like this:
- To rid the blue fruits of the bitter taste, you need to soak them in milk. To do this, chopped vegetable circles or cubes are immersed in fermented milk product for half an hour.
- Salt the pieces dried from milk well. Lay them out on a paper towel to drain excess moisture.
- Spread a baking sheet with a small amount of oil, spread out the nightshade and send it inside the oven preheated to 170 degrees for three quarters of an hour.
- Cool the eggplant by laying it out on the towel again.
- Divide the pieces into freezer containers.
- Send the container to the freezer where the product will be stored for the next few months.
How to freeze raw eggplant
If you decide to use blue nightshade as the main ingredient for winter preparations, but you don’t want to spend time roasting or baking, then you can not do this, but leave the vegetables fresh. the best way to defrost cold pieces of fruit will be the use of a microwave. Never put slices in water, as you risk washing out all the valuable substances. There are only two ingredients for this recipe:
- eggplant;
- salt.
You can freeze fresh eggplant for the winter as follows:
- Fruits must be thoroughly washed with water and dried with a towel. If you do not like the bitter taste, then you can remove the peel from the nightshade. Please note that this may affect their appearance.
- Remove the legs and cut the blue ones into medium-sized circles. Diced cutting is only suitable when you plan to use them in salads or other dishes that require fine shredding.
- Salt each piece on both sides.
- Spread several layers of paper towels, put salted circles on them. Excess moisture, which risks becoming ice when frozen, should come out.
- Arrange the pieces in bags as loosely as possible so that they do not freeze.
- Place packaged vegetables in the freezer until ready to eat.
Life has made freezing vegetables and berries one of the most popular ways to store summer harvest.
It is very convenient to prepare frozen eggplants for the winter.
After defrosting, the “blue ones” do not lose any useful properties, no taste. They can be used for cooking in the same way as fresh vegetables. The main thing is not to spoil the eggplant by improper processing and storage.
How to freeze eggplant for long-term storage?
Frozen eggplant for the winter - general principles of preparation
Young, thin-skinned "blue" with small seeds are suitable for freezing. First of all, whole, without signs of spoilage, the fruits must be washed well, cut off the tails, and dried. What's next? The temptation is great to simply chop the vegetables, put them in a bag and put them in the freezer. But this cannot be done.
Eggplants must be processed before freezing: first soak in salt water, then subject to any heat treatment. If this is not done, then after freezing, beautiful slices or cubes will turn into an unappetizing bitter gruel, which will only be thrown away.
Soaking in salt water is necessary in order to rid the fruits of the characteristic bitterness. Heat treatment destroys the enzyme that causes eggplant to spoil. Eggplant can be fried, blanched, baked, stewed. Only after that they are sent to the freezer.
Frozen eggplants can be left whole for the winter, but this way 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, sticks are more convenient to store. Small pieces freeze faster.
Prepared eggplants are poured with salted water, then dried on a paper or woven towel. It remains to thermally process the 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 tight freezer bags or plastic food containers will do.
Second way- Pre-freeze (before putting the vegetables in bags or containers). To do this, the slices need to be spread out in a thin layer on cutting board. Eggplant slices freeze in 3-5 hours, depending on the thickness.
The easiest recipe for frozen eggplant for the winter. The fruits remain whole, so harvesting can be done very quickly. Each eggplant is wrapped in a separate bag, so it is very convenient to get and use them.
Ingredients:
3-5 medium eggplants.
Cooking method:
Prepare vegetables, dry well after washing.
Preheat the skillet, then reduce heat to low.
Put the eggplant on the dry bottom of the pan, fry on all sides. Turn over so that the vegetables do not burn.
When the eggplant softens a little, excess moisture and bitterness will leave them.
Remove the skin from the "blue" ones, cool.
How to freeze eggplant whole? Put each fruit in a plastic bag or a piece of cling film and send it to the freezer.
Blanched frozen eggplants for the winter
Another way to prepare frozen eggplant for the winter involves blanching small slices in boiling water.
Ingredients:
Five small young eggplants;
a tablespoon of salt;
Two liters of pure water for blanching;
Two liters of ice water.
Cooking method:
Cut thoroughly washed and dried eggplant into neat cubes or beautiful circles no thicker than one and a half centimeters.
Put 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.
Transfer the eggplant to a colander and dip in boiling water for two minutes.
Remove and immediately plunge into ice water.
Spread blanched eggplant on a dry napkin or towel and wait until it dries completely.
Arrange the slices in plastic containers, trying to form one-time servings.
Remove to freezer.
Check periodically for moisture.
Fried frozen eggplant for the winter
It is very tasty to harvest eggplants for the winter, after frying 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 eggplants of medium size;
A spoonful of medium grinding salt;
Three tablespoons of oil.
Cooking method:
Washed and dried "blue" cut into even circles and dry.
Pour some oil into a frying pan and heat well.
Spread the eggplant in one layer, fry the slices on both sides until a delicious crust.
Scatter the fried eggplant polyethylene film one layer and put in the freezer overnight.
Remove frozen slices, quickly arrange in bags or containers and return to the freezer.
Frozen eggplant for the winter from the oven
It does not require much preparation to process eggplant in the oven. The main thing is not to overexpose the slices in the oven.
Ingredients:
Several eggplants selected for freezing;
tea boat vegetable oil.
Cooking method:
Cut eggplant into small cubes vegetable stew.
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
Grease a 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 the pan out a few times to stir the eggplant for even stewing. This must be done very carefully to maintain the shape of the cut.
Remove from oven and let vegetables cool completely.
Pack cold stewed eggplant in portions and freeze.
Whole baked eggplant for the winter
The easiest way to harvest eggplant for the winter should be noted by working women. Everything is done very simply. The beauty of the recipe is that you can cook almost any dish from such a blank.
Ingredients:
Three or four eggplants;
A tablespoon of butter for greasing the baking sheet.
Cooking method:
"Blue" wash, wipe with a towel.
Make 3-4 punctures on the surface of the vegetables with a fork.
Turn on the oven at 200 degrees.
Grease a baking sheet with oil and lay out the eggplant.
Bake in a preheated oven for 30-40 minutes.
Let the eggplant cool.
Carefully peel off the skin.
Place in individual bags and freeze.
Grilled eggplant for the winter
Instead of the oven and pan, you can heat the eggplant slices on the grill. It is very convenient to do this on a special grill pan. Just cut the vegetables into beautiful long strips. It is very tasty to make eggplant rolls from such blanks, wrapping cheese, nuts, chopped meat.
Ingredients:
Three large eggplants.
Cooking method:
Carefully, using a sharp knife, cut each eggplant into long thin strips.
Preheat a grill pan (do not add oil).
Fry eggplant on both sides.
When the barrel is 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 different ways: in the microwave, on the shelf of the refrigerator, in the kitchen at normal air temperature. Do not defrost slices in hot water: they will turn into a tasteless and completely useless porridge.
- For many dishes, eggplant does not need to be defrosted first. Slices can be immediately sent to the pan or on a baking sheet to fry with other vegetables or bake with fish, meat, chicken and cheese.
- Frozen foods with strong odors should not be kept near eggplants. "Blue" easily absorb extraneous flavors. That is why you should not place them for the winter either next to fish or near a bag of dill.
- Try to get all the air out of the plastic bags. You can iron the bags with your palms or draw out the air with a regular cocktail straw.
- If eggplants are frozen in different ways, containers or bags should be labeled. So you will know exactly what vegetables to get and what dish to cook from them.
- At temperatures below 14 degrees, frozen eggplants are stored for no longer than six months. During this time, they need to be eaten.
