Making pumpkin blanks for the winter

The pumpkin can be stored without damage until the new harvest In autumn, harvesting pumpkins, gardeners often lay the fruits for storage. Well-ripened pumpkins, without cracks, scratches on the skin and with a carefully preserved petiole, lie without spoiling for three to 20 months. However, the shelf life depends not only on the condition of the fruit, but also on the variety. For example, pumpkins of the “100-pound” or “Gribovskaya Zimnaya” variety can last until next summer, but the most delicious, sweet and fragrant Muscat ones will have to be eaten until mid-winter. And not all pumpkins are removed from the garden in perfect condition. On one - the trace of the beak of a neighbor's chicken, and the other was without a dry tail.

Besides this, there is another problem. Having cut the fruit, which sometimes weighs a lot of kilograms, it is difficult to use it at a time. The beneficial properties and nutritional value of cut pumpkin, even in a refrigerator, are lost in a matter of hours.

In order not to condemn the family to a "pumpkin" diet, and at the same time to preserve the grown, you can make a variety of pumpkin preparations for the winter.

The pulp, rich in carotene and other useful substances, is an excellent basis for savory snacks, semi-finished products, from which you can prepare your favorite dishes in the cold season, as well as treats for small and large sweet teeth.

How to freeze pumpkin for the winter?

It is best to make preparations for the winter from nutmeg varieties.

When preparing preparations for the winter from pumpkin, housewives try to choose such a recipe and a method in which the vegetable retains maximum benefits and all its characteristics. Until recently, it was impossible to do without heat treatment or the use of preservatives such as citric or acetic acid. Today, nothing gets in the way just like zucchini... squash, freeze pumpkin for the winter, and after a while use a product as healthy and tasty as fresh fruit.

But what is the best way to freeze the pumpkin? There are several equally simple ways, the main thing is to decide in advance what such an original semi-finished product will be used for:

If the family has a small child, or the hostess loves to bake pumpkin pies, it is convenient to use the recipe with a photo, where the pumpkin is frozen in the form of mashed potatoes for the winter.
Gourmets wishing to pamper themselves with dietary pumpkin spaghetti of this variety can also freeze such blanched pulp in portioned bags.
The easiest way is to freeze pumpkin for the winter in the form of small cubes, which are added to cereals, used in vegetable side dishes, casseroles and pies.

Before using as part of blanks for the winter, the pumpkin is thoroughly washed, cut and cleaned of the fibrous core and seeds.

If you have to freeze the pumpkin in cubes, then the prepared pieces up to 3 cm in size are immersed in boiling water for 2-3 minutes.

Preparing pumpkin for freezing After that, the raw materials are laid out on a baking sheet, dried and sent to the freezer, taking care that the cubes do not touch each other and do not stick together. The hardened pumpkin is scattered into resealable bags or containers for later storage.

When preparing a semi-finished product for vegetable spaghetti, so that the pulp breaks up into fibers, it is better to bake the pumpkin cut into halves. After that, the cooled fibers are removed, laid out in a thin layer on a pallet and frozen.

If you freeze pumpkin in this way for the winter, you can not only feast on a light nutritious side dish, but make casseroles with spaghetti and fry pumpkin pancakes.

To prepare pumpkin for the winter in the form of frozen puree, large pieces of fruit are placed on a baking sheet with the bark down and sent to the oven. When, after 40 minutes, the pulp is softened at a temperature of 180-190 ° C, the pumpkin is taken out and cooled.

The extracted pulp is crushed until the mass becomes smooth and airy. Then they are laid out in small bags or molds for freezing.

You can also bake the pumpkin in the form of small peeled cubes or slices. In this case, cover the baking sheet with pulp with a layer of food foil. It takes 20 minutes to half an hour to cook a baked pumpkin.

Pumpkin intended for baking can be seasoned with salt, cinnamon, sugar or other spices and herbs to taste.

The frozen cubes are placed in tight-fitting bags or containers that are easy to place in the freezer.

Pickled pumpkin

A delicious savory pumpkin appetizer can be made by marinating the pulp. For such a harvest, a ripe fruit with a dense, but not coarse pulp is taken from a pumpkin for the winter. The pumpkin is washed, peeled and cut into cubes suitable for placing in jars.

Raw materials are blanched for 2-3 minutes, cooled and laid out in clean glass containers. On top of the pieces, the jars are filled with marinade, made on the basis that 1 liter of water goes:

30 grams of sugar;
20 grams of salt;
5-6 cloves and grains of allspice;
a small slice of cinnamon.

A mixture of spices in water is brought to a boil and kept on fire for another 5 minutes, then 100 ml of 9% vinegar is added to the liquid.

If desired, you can change the set of spices by adding to the marinade, for example, a sprig of rosemary, basil, or slices of ginger root.

The pumpkin blank prepared in this way for the winter must be sealed with lids and sterilized.

Pumpkin caviar with vegetables

Healthy and tasty vegetable caviar from pumpkin and other vegetables is both a great snack and an easy addition to a more satisfying side dish of boiled potatoes.

For 1 kg of peeled pumpkin pulp, take 500 grams of chopped carrots and 150 grams of chopped onions. The pumpkin is boiled for half an hour or baked for about 40 minutes at 180 ° C until the flesh is tender. At this time, chopped onions and carrots are fried in vegetable oil, adding salt, black pepper, paprika and herbs to taste.

When bow turns brown, the vegetables are removed from the heat and mixed with the pumpkin. Use a blender or food processor to get a smooth paste. Ready pumpkin caviar, harvested for the winter, is laid out in clean small jars, closed and sterilized.

Dried pumpkin - an original snack for vegetable lovers

Drying, like freezing, allows you to preserve all the useful properties and taste in the product.

It is not difficult to dry the pumpkin, but the whole family, taking into account the tastes and preferences of each household, will be provided with original chips.

For this delicacy, it is better to take a pumpkin with a dense, homogeneous pulp, and the fruit may not be very sweet. This will make a great salted chips. If the pulp contains a lot of sugars, it is better to make a snack for children and adult lovers of sweets:

The fruit is washed and peeled.
Then, according to the recipe, as in the photo, the pumpkin for winter harvesting is thinly cut into slices no more than 2-3 mm thick
The resulting plates are blanched for several minutes in boiling water, into which salt or sugar is added, depending on the tastes of the household.
The slices removed from the boiling water are cooled under running cold water.
The pumpkin is dried and laid out on a pallet.

To make the dried pumpkin tastier, before drying, the still damp plates are seasoned to taste with spices and herbs.

For such preparation of pumpkin for the winter, it is better to use an electric dryer, in which the slices will have to spend up to 6 hours at a temperature of 55-60 ° C. And then the chips are dried for another two hours, increasing the temperature to 70-80 ° C.

Pumpkin powder

If the hostess makes pumpkin juice for the winter, a dense dehydrated puree is often left, from which it is easy to prepare a healthy powder containing a large amount of fiber, minerals and vitamins.

The special value of pumpkin powder is that it is easy to store, and when you add water, a full-fledged puree is obtained from it. And besides, this is an amazing additive for homemade baked goods, which thanks to this will acquire an original taste and color.

If there is no ready-made puree, it is not difficult to make it. For this, the pumpkin is washed, cut and peeled. The pulp, cut into small cubes, is boiled without salt and sugar for 10 to 20 minutes, and then rubbed through a sieve or chopped in a blender. The resulting puree, spread in a thin layer on parchment paper, is placed on a drier tray or baking sheet to be sent to the oven.

At a temperature of 135 ° C in the oven, the pumpkin dries in a few minutes, the main thing is to prevent the product from sticking and stir the pulp constantly. The dry mass is crushed and scattered for storage in paper bags or glass jars.

Pumpkin jam

Pumpkin jam is a preparation for the winter, which is one of the most popular and rightfully loved ones. True, because of the bland taste of pumpkin, you can get a truly delicious product by adding citrus fruits, apples, dried apricots, quince or other fruits to the jam.

For 1.5 kg of pumpkin pulp, peeled from the bark and seeds, you need a couple of lemons or oranges, one apple and sugar syrup. To prepare it, add 2 kg of sugar to 500 ml of water, bring the mixture to a boil and remove from heat.

The pumpkin and fruits are washed, peeled and chopped, and the peel should not be removed from the lemon and orange.
The fruits are poured with syrup, put the dishes on the fire and, removing the resulting foam, again bring the pumpkin blank for the winter to a boil.
So that the pieces of vegetable and fruit are soaked in hot syrup, remove the jam from the heat and leave it to infuse.
After 3-4 hours, bring to a boil again, boil for five minutes and again force to infuse.
During the last cooking on the fire, the boiled jam should be for 5-10 minutes, after which the product is poured into sterile jars and closed.

If desired, nut kernels can be added to the pumpkin jam, which are pre-chopped and boiled for about 40 minutes in sweet water.

Sweet preparation for the winter - pumpkin puree

This puree contains less sugar than jam, so it will be useful for adults and will definitely be enjoyed by children.

For a kilogram of peeled pumpkin pulp, you need to take 500 grams of apricots or peaches. The fruits are washed. The seeds are extracted from the fruit.
Raw materials are crushed in a blender and covered with sugar at the rate of 450 grams per 1.5 kg of fruit.
The future mashed potatoes are simmered on low heat until 2 hours, making sure that the dish does not burn.
A few minutes before readiness, a teaspoon of citric acid is added to the mass, the puree is thoroughly mixed.

Useful pumpkin blanks for the winter are laid out in clean sterile jars and sealed.

Candied pumpkin for the winter

The pumpkin, washed and peeled from the skin and seeds, is cut into thin slices or small cubes. The prepared pulp is poured with sugar syrup, which is prepared at the rate of 200 ml of water per 1.2 kg of sugar, 3 grams of citric acid and a pinch of vanilla.

To get translucent candied fruits saturated with sugar syrup, in the photo, as in the pumpkin jam recipe, the product is brought to a boil three or four times, left on fire for a few minutes, and then it is imperative to let it brew. After 5-7 hours the process is repeated. In this case, the pumpkin will retain its shape and density, but a great honey taste is acquired. The pumpkin slices harvested for the winter are dried on a sieve and, if desired, rolled in powdered sugar.

Ready-to-eat candied fruits are stored in a cool, dry place. The best containers are glass jars covered with parchment.

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