How to prepare parsley for the winter?

Parsley has a special place among the spices. Its aroma gives taste to any dish, making it more beautiful and useful. You can eat parsley in any form.That is why many people use it for cooking throughout the year. It can be frozen, salted, pickled and used for cooking even in the winter.

Parsley should be beautiful, bright and not have dried stems, as well as damage. Do not forget about the freshness. It is very important. If you pick the parsley and leave it for at least three days without pre-processing, then half of the useful elements and vitamins will leave it. Also, do not buy greens in supermarkets, as they use special substances for its processing, so that the product will remain attractive for a long time.

Before storing the greens, rinse well under running water. This can also be done in a tank. But it is worth changing the water in it several times. It is not recommended to pour greens with boiling water, as it will lose its beneficial substances.

After washing, the leaves must be dried, and then put in a container with holes at the bottom. You can use the usual colander. After the mass is dry and there are no droplets on it, it is placed on a soft cloth so that moisture is absorbed from the plant. Such greens should be left for an hour and a half, and it is recommended to decompose in one layer so that it dries faster.

Then parsley should be finely chopped, similar to how it is cut into a salad. Then this composition will be more convenient to use. In winter, it can be used for salads, soups and other dishes. It is necessary to place the chopped greens on a soft napkin and let it lie there for 1-2 hours.

Experienced housewives prefer to chill parsley before freezing. This moment is important, as the plant must go through a preliminary stage of cooling before freezing. Therefore, after drying, it should be laid out on a tray and put in a refrigerator for 4-5 hours.

Experienced housewives say it's better to freeze parsley. It can also be dried, but freezing in the freezer is the best way to preserve the nutritional properties and elements in the product for a long period. This parsley is then used in the winter for various dishes, including salads.

There are certain methods of freezing that will help preserve nutrients.

Freezing is performed by such methods:

1. in bunches;
2. in tins;
3. in polyethylene.

The easiest method of freezing parsley is to spread it in bunches in the freezer. This should be done only in the case of complete pre-drying of greenery. The branches are folded into bunches of small size, which can then be used once or twice.

Such bundles are wrapped in plastic or film. The finished product will form small rolls that can be stored for a long time and do not require additional packaging.

This composition is suitable for cooking different dishes. If necessary, you can use it in winter and fresh. The product will be stored until the next harvest.

To save the product in ice forms, it is necessary to prepare a mass. To do this, dry it, grind it, and then pour it with water. It is also recommended to thoroughly rinse the herbs and chop before the process, in order to better pack in the molds.

Then the resulting mass is put into the cells and compacted. After this, the containers are filled with chilled water and then put in the freezer for 3-4 hours. Then these molds get and fold into the bag, which is again placed in the freezer for storage.

If you need to keep the greens in the package, then you need to pay attention to its preliminary high-quality drying. It is important to ensure that there is no moisture on the leaves. Otherwise, the greens will stick together, and will be a continuous lump. In this case, before using it, it will be necessary to split this mass, and it will also be difficult to cut it.

Those who do not have a freezer do not need to despair. There is a way out of this situation. The product can be dried. This is a way to help keep healthy ingredients in greens. To do this, it must be dried in one of the following ways. The resulting product will retain all its beneficial properties and flavor.

Parsley is dried in the following ways:

• in the microwave;
• on air;
• in the dryer.

If there are necessary conditions, it is possible to dry the raw materials and in the air. The stems are cleaned from rotted elements, washed well and dried with a soft cloth. Next, the greens are cut and laid out in a thin layer on paper. From above you can cover it with gauze so that insects do not fall.

Drying in this way should be raw materials in places that are protected from direct rays and are well ventilated. The composition must be turned over regularly and agitated so that rot and mildew do not appear in it.

Storage is carried out in a place that is protected from dust and there are no heaters nearby. Dried parsley in this way can retain its beneficial properties and taste for 2 years.

Stages of work:

1. green check;
2. removal of rotten as well as damaged leaflets;
3. root pruning;
4. washing and listening.

The resulting mass is laid out on a baking sheet and placed in an oven, the temperature in which is set at 50 degrees. Under the influence of heat, it dries, and properties are preserved. In order for the resulting mass to dry evenly, it is necessary to agitate it from time to time.

There are other ways to process parsley. You can prepare the product with dill, salt, tomatoes.

In some moments, parsley can be stored in the marinade without pre-freezing. To do this, take a bunch of parsley, water, sugar, salt, garlic and vinegar. The washed and dried parsley is finely chopped and laid out in jars.

The prepared brine is poured into the container and everything is tightly closed with a lid. Ingredients must be taken at the rate of 100 grams of parsley for 5-6 grams of ingredients. All this should be boiled over low heat at a temperature of 90 degrees for 15 minutes. After that, the banks cool down and are placed in the cellar. In this way, parsley can be stored for more than six months.

To keep seasoning salted, you need to take jars of any size. It is recommended to use small containers, which will simplify the process of using the product in winter. The amount of parsley salted in this way should be determined by the hostess.

The main thing is to take into account the necessary proportions that should not be violated, as this may affect the shelf life. The best recipe is considered when there is 5 times more greens in a jar than salt. Salt must be selected for the process large.

For pickling usually take a kilogram of parsley and 200 g of kitchen not iodized salt. Parsley is crushed, cleaned well and moved to remove damaged leaves from it. And then all this is heard, so that there is no moisture in the green.

Then the leaves are finely chopped and mixed with salt. Greens must be slightly mashed to salt is distributed over the entire surface of the mass.Then the composition is packaged in a jar and leave a little free space under the lid, so that juice is allocated there. For seaming, you can use the usual metal caps or nylon.

It is possible to save the plant entirely. To do this, select the young shoots and get rid of large and coarse stems. Components are not cut, but are used entirely. Branches should not be fluffy and long. Before holding the preparation in this way it is necessary to sterilize the jars. Also, greens should be placed in containers in a dry form.

Some housewives salted parsley with dill. This allows you to get a tasty billet for the winter. The ratio of components is determined in each case individually by the hostess, depending on preferences. The prepared raw material is washed under running water several times. Next, the leaves are tapped and cut.

The mixture is placed in a large container, spilled with salt and thoroughly mixed by hand. Further, the composition is packaged in jars, which can not be sterilized.

Parsley is harvested also with vegetables. This mixture will be a good addition to meat dishes, salads, soups and other things. The vitamin mixture is usually added at the end of cooking.

To prepare the composition of all the ingredients it is recommended to pre-rinse and chop. You can use various vegetables, for example, pepper, celery, tomatoes, carrots, radish.

Since not only green stems are suitable for consumption in parsley, but also roots, it is possible to freeze them as well. The roots are frozen in the same way as the stems, but they must be blanched.

Peeled roots are cut into pieces and can be added to different dishes in the winter. When cooking, blanch the roots for 5 minutes in a small amount of water. Then they are dried and frozen. The package is placed in the freezer.

To preserve the aroma of parsley for a long time, at home, you can also use other storage methods, in addition to the above. In this case, the parsley will always be kept fresh. But the process must be carried out correctly.

Sometimes vegetable oil is used to fill the leaves. To do this, the product is initially washed and cut, and then laid out on the banks. The resulting mass is slightly compacted into the jar. Next, the oil is melted so that there are no air bubbles on it.

Oil is poured so that it covers all the greens. It is also important to keep the distance to the lid of 1 cm. And the oil should be poured in small doses so that it is evenly distributed between the greens. Next, the banks are closed with plastic lids and stored in a refrigeration unit at 7 degrees.

If there is no opportunity or time to cook your own parsley and pickle it, if you wish, you can buy the product in any supermarket, but it is worth remembering that such greens will not have the proper quality, as it is grown in unnatural conditions. Those products that are grown in the winter and sold fresh contain nitrates and do more harm than good.

This is the reason that many housewives try to harvest parsley on their own. As you can see, there are many ways to do this, but because everyone can choose the most suitable for him.

How to freeze parsley for the winter, see the video below.