You can preserve zucchini by freezing, drying, canning, pickling, salting (brining), and packing carefully for storage in a cold cellar or refrigerator.
What’s the best way to preserve courgettes?
Remove the ends and cut them into rounds or cubes. Place the pieces on a tray and let the zucchini freeze for 8-10 hours. Once the courgettes are frozen, divide them into food bags, which, once filled according to the desired quantity, can be stored in the freezer without any problems.
What can I do with too many courgettes?
Cook Your Courgettes
For example, you could make courgetti ‘spaghetti’ to use in place of pasta for a healthy meal. You could make some courgette curry, some fritters, or some savoury courgette muffins. If you are inventive in the ways you cook and use courgettes then you are far less likely to get bored.
Can I freeze uncooked courgettes?
Yes, you can freeze courgettes for up to 3 months. To freeze courgettes, slice the courgettes into slices, batons or chunks and pop them onto a tray before placing the tray into the freezer. Once the courgette has frozen solid, you can portion it into bags and return it to the freezer.
How do you preserve courgettes for the winter?
Preserving zucchini
- Choose young squash with tender skin.
- Wash and cut in half-inch slices.
- Water blanch for three minutes. Cool promptly, drain and package, leaving half-inch headspace.
- Seal, label and freeze.
How do you store courgettes after harvesting?
Ensure they are in good condition and store them in a cool, dry place such as a cupboard. Courgettes don’t store well, and should be kept in the fridge for a maximum of three weeks.
Do you need to blanch zucchini before freezing?
While freezing zucchini is a great way to extend its life, it’s not as simple as just popping a few squash into your freezer. Raw zucchini gets weepy and watery after thawing. To effectively save it, you should chop and blanch it first. This helps set the texture and color and makes it last longer.
What do you do with courgettes at the end of the season?
At the end of the growing season, it’s best to pull zucchini plants out of the ground and toss them out. If there aren’t any signs of disease or pests, you can add old zucchini plants to your compost pile. Because zucchini plants are annuals, they die off once they are done producing fruit.
Do you peel courgettes?
To prepare: Courgettes do not need to be peeled – trim the ends off and either cook whole or slice into rounds or strips, wash before use. To cook: Cook in boiling water or steam for 2 to 5 minutes, depending on size, until tender. Or fry courgette slices for 5-10 minutes until tender.
How do you freeze large courgettes?
Freeze them
Cut the courgettes to your desired size, blanch them and then freeze free-flow on a tray until they are frozen. Once frozen, portion into ziplock bags. Alternatively, grate the zucchini and freeze it in ziplock bags. It will be watery when it thaws, so just squeeze out the excess liquid before using.
Do you have to blanch marrow before freezing?
Blanching helps you to retain the texture of marrow when freezing it. It will also help you to lock in any nutrients. Blanching isn’t vital but it does come highly recommended. It will be safe to freeze your marrow without blanching but you will notice they degrade much quicker without it.
How do you preserve zucchini in a jar?
Boil or steam the zucchini for 2-3 minutes. Pack the hot zucchini into the canning jars (pint or quart.) Leave a 1 inch head space. For pint jars, add 1/2 teaspoon of salt, for quart jars you will add 1 teaspoon.
Does frozen zucchini get mushy?
Because zucchini is 95% water, it can become quite soft after you freeze and thaw it. A little puddle of water may surround it. Therefore, it’s best used in soups, casseroles, sauces and smoothies. In fact, it’s a great way to sneak more veggies into a smoothie (it’ll go virtually undetected!).
Is it better to freeze or dehydrate zucchini?
Dehydrating zucchini is one of the most versatile ways to preserve zucchini for the year. No peeling or blanching is required – simply cut to the shape you want, dry it properly at 125°F / 52°C for anywhere from 4-12 hours until good and crisp, and you’ve got shelf-stable zucchini for year!
What can I do with a lot of zucchini from my garden?
What to do with too Much Zucchini
- Add it to Your Salads. Sliced or diced, zucchini is a nice addition to any salad.
- Put it in Spaghetti.
- Freeze It.
- Make Butter out of It.
- Enjoy Zucchini Bites.
- Try Greta’s Zucchini Bread Recipe.
- Add Zucchini to Turkey Burgers.
- Zucchini Soup is a Must.
Can you freeze whole zucchini?
You can freeze zucchini whole, sliced, shredded and spiralized. It’s so easy! See below for details on every method of freezing zucchini. Zucchini is a very popular vegetable and a great one for gardeners to grow.
Should you remove flowers from courgettes?
Harvest your courgettes as soon as they reach the required size. The first one or two courgettes tend to rot at the ends, I’m not sure why this is but it’s nothing to worry about. I find if you remove the flowers as the fruits swell it will be less of a problem.
How do you freeze courgettes without blanching them?
To freeze courgettes without blanching
- Wash courgettes.
- Cut or grate to the size you want to freeze them in.
- Pat as dry as you can with a tea towel.
- Now, place your courgette on a lined baking tray in a single layer and freeze for 2-4 hours.
- Once frozen, move to an airtight container as above.
What happens if you freeze vegetables without blanching?
Blanching helps vegetables keep their vibrant colors and retain nutrients, and stops the enzymes that would otherwise lead to spoilage. Freezing vegetables without blanching them first results in faded or dulled coloring, as well as off flavors and textures.
How long do you blanch zucchini for freezing?
Blanch the zucchini for 45 to 60 seconds. When done, the zucchini should still be crisp-tender and taste raw in the middle. Shock the zucchini in the ice water: Scoop the zucchini from the water and transfer to the ice water bath to cool.
How do you keep zucchini from rotting?
Zucchini Blossom End Rot Treatment
Calcium carbonate tablets, or anti-acid tablets like Tums, can be inserted at the base of the plant. They will then dissolve and within a few hours, calcium will be available to the plant. You can also run calcium through a drip system. Use either calcium chloride or calcium nitrate.