How to prepare nettles for the winter at home? TOP 5 recipes with photos. Secrets and features of cooking. Video recipes.
Many are familiar with nettles, but at a distance. However, this unique plant rightfully deserves to be called a storehouse of beneficial properties for health. Nettle leaves contain 4 times more ascorbic acid than lemon. It contains vitamins K and B2, carotene and pantothenic acid. Therefore, nettle should be used for food, and the most popular way to use it is to cook soup, borscht or cabbage soup. Usually such dishes are cooked with young shoots of nettles in spring and early summer. And in order to cook delicious first courses with it in winter, during the cold season, during a period of lack of vitamins, you need to stock up on nettles and prepare it for future use. This can be done in several ways. Therefore, in this material we will find out the TOP-4 recipes for how to prepare nettles for the winter.
Secrets and features of the preparation of the workpiece
- You can harvest nettles for the winter from May to August, but it is better to use the youngest shoots of nettles in late spring. If you are late in picking, use a mature plant, but only cut off the top small, not yet fully opened leaves.
- Nettle has a graceful foliage, and outwardly seems safe, but it differs in that it burns the hands. Despite the fact that a nettle burn is harmless for us, and even on the contrary - useful, it frightens many. Therefore, wear protective rubber gloves before collecting it. However, young fruits are burned very weakly, or even completely devoid of this property.
- You can pick off the nettles or cut them off with scissors or with a knife.
- Before harvesting the plant, sort it out, removing other random plants. Then rinse well with cold water to remove any dust and bugs. It is better not to use hot water, otherwise the leaves will lose some of the beneficial vitamins. Also, in hot water, the leaves will immediately soften and wilt. Then dry the shoots well by spreading them on a towel. If it gets wet, replace it with a new one. Then sort it out, removing too rough stems, and harvest only delicate leaves.
Dried nettles
Dried nettle retains the maximum amount of vitamins. In dried form, it can be left with whole dried leaves or grind into powder. Nettle powder is optionally combined with other dried herbs. For example, add 2 tablespoons. cumin and get a dry soup dressing and seasoning for hot dishes.
- Caloric content per 100 g - 187 kcal.
- Servings - Any Amount
- Cooking time - 3 days at room temperature
Ingredients:
Nettle - any amount
Cooking dried nettles:
- Line a countertop or tray with a paper towel, gauze, or other material that absorbs excess moisture.
- Put carefully dried nettle leaves on the prepared surface in a thin layer (no more than 5 cm).
- Move the grass to a dark, ventilated place out of direct sunlight. Stir and stir it periodically so that it dries evenly. Air drying will take about 3 days.
- Nettles can be dried in other ways. For example, collect it in small bunches and hang it in a well-ventilated area with the leaves down. A dehydrator or electric dryer with a fan will also work. The advantages of the latter method are simplicity and the absence of the need to constantly monitor the condition of raw materials, because modern dryers are equipped with timers and thermostats.
- When the nettle is dry, place it in a paper or cloth bag, glass jar with a lid, or a plastic container.
- Store it in a dry and dark place, free from high humidity.
Freezing nettles
The second popular way to harvest nettles for the winter is to freeze them. Use such nettles in winter for cooking first courses and making sauces. There are several ways to freeze a plant. Let's consider the most common ones.
Ingredients:
Nettle - any amount
Cooking frozen nettles:
- Prepare the nettles as described above.
- Cut the washed and dried shoots or collect only whole leaves.
- Place the nettles on a tray and place in the freezer.
- When it's completely frozen, place it in plastic bags in convenient portions. Do not press down too hard to avoid damaging it. The plant should be stored loosely in bags.
- Another way to freeze nettles is to place the washed leaves in a blender and chop them to a puree consistency. Pour the resulting mass into ice cube trays or small silicone muffins for baking muffins. Place the frozen ice cubes in a bag for storage.
- Nettles are also frozen by spreading the leaves in the same ice molds and filling them with drinking water.
Salted nettle
In addition to the listed, most popular methods of harvesting nettles for the winter, other options are also practiced. Consider the option of harvesting salted nettles. It is mainly used for preparing first courses.
Ingredients:
- Nettle - 1 kg
- Salt - 50 g
Cooking salted nettles:
- Cut the washed young nettle leaves and shoots with a knife.
- Spread the plant over sterilized jars, sprinkle with salt.
- Cover them with clean plastic lids and store in the refrigerator or cellar. In a warm place, salted nettles will quickly deteriorate.
Pickled nettle
Refill your cellar with pickled nettles for the winter, one of the richest sources of vitamins. Such preparation of nettles for the winter will provide the family with useful vitamins for the whole winter.
Ingredients:
- Nettle - 300 g
- Sugar - 1 tablespoon
- Salt - 1 tablespoon
- Water - 250 ml
- Vinegar 9% - 1-2 tablespoons
Cooking pickled nettles:
- For pickled nettles, use the top of the young shoots 6-8 cm long.
- Rinse them well with hot water. In this case, the nettle is washed with hot water.
- Put the shoots tightly in a sterilized jar and fill them with boiling water. Leave them on for 5-8 minutes and drain the water into a saucepan.
- Add sugar, salt, vinegar to a saucepan and bring marinade to a boil.
- Pour marinade over jars of nettles, cover and place in a pot of hot water. Place a tea towel under the jar so it doesn't crack.
- After boiling water, sterilize a 0.5 liter jar for 5 minutes.
- Seal the jar with a tin lid, turn it over, placing it on the lid, wrap it up with a warm blanket and leave to cool completely.
- Place the pickled nettles in the refrigerator.
