Is it possible to freeze pumpkin for the winter

Freezing fruits and vegetables is becoming increasingly popular as it is one of the least labor intensive ways to preserve fruits and berries for the winter. In addition, all useful substances are preserved. So freezing pumpkin for the winter at home is not very difficult. But there is no need to worry about the safety of huge fruits, and the view for further use is more convenient.

How to freeze pumpkin for the winter

It seems that the only difficulty in freezing a pumpkin for the winter in the freezer is to free it from the peel and seeds and cut it into pieces. But after all, as a result, you want to get a ready-made semi-finished product that can be used to prepare various dishes without even defrosting. Therefore, it is necessary to consider in detail all the nuances of the freezing process.

Pumpkin is rich in useful substances: vitamins, minerals, amino acids, fiber, glucose, fructose and much more. It contains even more protein than poultry eggs, and in terms of carotene content, it is ahead of carrots. And all these useful substances are completely preserved in a frozen pumpkin. Only the consistency of the product is lost, after defrosting, pieces of pumpkin can spread and lose their density and elasticity. And then – this applies only to pumpkin frozen raw.

If the pumpkin is baked or subjected to other heat treatment before freezing, then both the taste and the consistency of the product will be completely preserved when defrosted.

Freezing is allowed absolutely any kind of pumpkin. It should only be borne in mind that dessert varieties with thin skins are easier to process. On the other hand, it is they who are a little more capricious in storage, so any housewife will prefer to deal with them first of all.

So that the work on freezing pumpkins for the winter at home is not in vain, you must:

• deal only with fully ripened fruits;
• make sure that they are not damaged, rotten parts.

Regardless of the freezing method used, the pumpkin must first be washed in cool water beforehand. Then cut into 2 halves and scrape out the inner fibrous part where the seeds are concentrated.

Further actions depend on the selected freezing method.

How to freeze diced pumpkin for the winter in the freezer

Cutting a pumpkin into cubes is the easiest way to freeze a vegetable for the winter. In this form, only raw pumpkin is frozen, so it is necessary, first of all, to free it from the peel. You can do this with a sharp knife, placing the half of the vegetable vertically. And you can use a special vegetable peeler, if the thickness of the peel allows this.

The resulting pulp is first cut into slices, 1 to 3 cm thick, and then into small cubes.

Therefore, take portion bags, the size of which is chosen so that their contents can be used at a time. Put pumpkin cubes inside the bags and place them in the freezer. It should be understood that when frozen, the cubes can increase in volume due to the liquid they contain, so some free space must be left in the bags so that they do not burst.

Pumpkin cubes of small sizes (with sides of 1-1,5 cm) are ideal for making stuffing in manti, as well as for some desserts. They can also be used without defrosting for pumpkin porridge, vegetable stew or pie fillings.

Freezing for the winter in a pumpkin freezer, cut into large cubes

It is even easier to freeze pumpkin in relatively large pieces or cubes. The preparation technology is absolutely similar, but here you can no longer pay attention to the correct form of cutting. The size of the bars can be from 2-3 cm to 8-10 cm in length.

Pumpkin cut into such cubes, after defrosting, will definitely be boiled or stewed, followed by grinding, so the consistency, shape and size do not matter much.

Such sticks are good for making cereals, mashed soups, sautés, meat and vegetable stews, and other side dishes.

Freezing blanched pumpkin for the winter in the freezer

Still, the best way, as mentioned earlier, is to pre-blanch pumpkin cubes or slices in boiling water before freezing. Although this method will take a little more time and effort, the taste and texture of the thawed vegetable will be more attractive.

1. After 2-3 minutes in boiling water, pumpkin pieces are placed for a couple of minutes in cold water, and then on a paper towel to dry.
2. After that, the pumpkin pieces are placed on a pallet or baking sheet so as to avoid their contact. Otherwise, it will be difficult to unhook them from each other later.

   

3. A baking sheet with cubes is placed in the freezer for a couple of hours to solidify.
4. After the pieces have hardened, the baking sheet is removed and pumpkin cubes are filled into portion bags, where they will be stored until use.

From such a pumpkin, you can cook all of the above dishes, besides, cubes can be quite tasty in warm salads, casseroles.

How to freeze grated pumpkin for the winter at home

If, nevertheless, there is no desire to mess with blanching a vegetable, then you can find another way to quickly and conveniently prepare pumpkins for freezing for the winter at home.

The peeled pulp can simply be cut into large pieces, and grate each of them on a coarse grater or use a food processor for this purpose.

The mashed pumpkin is distributed into portion bags, not forgetting to leave a small free space in the upper part. In order for the bags to fit compactly in the freezer, they are flattened and placed in the freezer for storage.

The mashed vegetable can be used to make pancakes. It can be added to the dough when baking bread, muffins, cookies and other confectionery. Fillings for pancakes, pies and pies, cutlets – mashed pumpkin is useful everywhere in these dishes. And lovers of dietary vegetable side dishes and various soups will appreciate the beauty of pumpkin fibers in their specialties.

Freezing pumpkin for the winter in the form of mashed potatoes

According to numerous reviews, the most delicious pumpkin puree for freezing for the winter is obtained from a baked vegetable. For baking, pumpkin does not even have to be freed from the peel. Just cut the vegetable into two parts and remove all the seeds. If the fruits are small, then they can be baked directly in halves. Otherwise, each half is cut into several wide slices.

Pumpkin slices or halves are placed in an oven preheated to 180-200 ° C and baked for about an hour. Pumpkin should be soft. After cooling, the pulp is easy to scrape out with an iron spoon from the peel and grind in a blender into a puree.

In the absence of an oven, pumpkin slices in the peel can be pre-boiled.

It can be done:

• in boiling water;
• in the microwave;
• over the steam.

In any case, it will take an additional time of about 40-50 minutes. Then the pulp after cooling is also easily separated from the peel and mashed with a fork, pusher or blender.

Pumpkin puree is most conveniently laid out in small containers or molds for freezing ice. In this case, they are placed in the freezer, waiting for freezing, after which they are removed from molds or containers and transferred to tight plastic bags for storage. This method allows you to get a dish almost ready to eat after defrosting. Therefore, pumpkin puree is placed in the dish at the very end of cooking.

Frozen baked pumpkin puree is a great addition to baby food. It can also be added to a variety of pastries, caviar, meatballs, soufflé and jam can be made from it. Kissel is boiled from pumpkin puree, various drinks are made, such as smoothies.

Freezing pumpkin with carrots and zucchini for feeding

For baby food, it is ideal to use frozen vegetable puree, which, after defrosting, requires only heating. After all, you can freeze for the winter not only pumpkin, but also almost any other vegetable.

You can cook assorted vegetables according to the following recipe:

1. Cut the pumpkin into large chunks.
2. Wash the carrots, peel and cut off the tail.
3. Cut the zucchini into two parts.
4. Place the vegetables in a heated oven and bake for about 40 minutes at a temperature of 180 ° C.
5. Cool, separate the pulp from the pumpkin and zucchini, and mixing them in approximately the same proportion with carrots, mash into a puree with a blender.
6. Divide the vegetable puree into portioned yogurt cups and place in the freezer.

How to freeze pumpkin with sugar for desserts

Pumpkin puree is also convenient because you can add various spices to it even before freezing, thereby determining its further purpose.

For example, by adding 500 g of sugar to 200 ml of puree, you can get an almost ready-made dessert that can be used both independently and for cooking almost any sweet dishes.

You can also add salt, ground black pepper and other spices to the puree to get the desired taste, so that you can then use it for any savory dishes.

A few tips for preparing frozen pumpkin dishes

For the preparation of most hot dishes, frozen pumpkin blanks do not even require special defrosting.

The pieces are simply placed in boiling water, milk or broth and thus brought to readiness.

The only type of frozen pumpkin that often needs to be thawed is mashed potatoes. Sometimes it is necessary to defrost grated pumpkin to make the filling. It is better to defrost them in the microwave or in the refrigerator.

In a freezer at a temperature of -18 ° C, frozen pumpkin can be stored for 10-12 months.

Conclusion

Obviously, freezing pumpkin for the winter at home is not difficult. A wide variety of freezing methods will make it easy to cook almost any dish from pumpkin in winter, while spending a minimum of time.

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