Pickled pumpkin: 11 recipes for the winter

Pumpkin is a bright and very healthy vegetable that any hostess who has grown it in her garden can rightly be proud of. It keeps well under normal room conditions, but pickled pumpkin for the winter can turn out to be such a delicacy that it’s even hard to imagine. After all, the vegetable itself tastes quite neutral, but it has the amazing ability to absorb all the tastes and aromas of its neighbors in the jar. This means that the palette of flavors of pickled pumpkin, which can be created using a variety of additives and spices, is truly inexhaustible.

How to pickle pumpkin for the winter

For pickling for the winter, varieties that are usually classified as nutmeg are best suited. Large-fruited varieties also have firm and sweet flesh that is easy to experiment with. You should only check the fruits for maturity, since all the most delicious varieties are late-ripening, which means they ripen closer to mid-autumn.

The skin of dessert varieties is usually thin, it is easy to cut, and the flesh of ripe fruits has a rich, very beautiful orange hue.

Ripe fruits can be easily identified by the color of the tail-peduncle – it should be dry, dark brown in color.

To create any blank for the winter from a pumpkin, you first need to cut it. That is, cut into 2-4 parts, remove the entire central fibrous part with seeds, and also cut off the peel. The thickness of the cut skin should not exceed 0,5 cm. Seeds do not need to be thrown away. If you dry them, then they can be a wonderful and very useful delicacy in winter.

The remaining pumpkin pulp is cut into pieces of a convenient size and shape: cubes, strips or slices, the thickness of which should not exceed 3 cm.

In order for the pumpkin slices to retain their attractive orange hue during the marinating process, they are blanched in salted water before manufacturing. To do this, 1 tsp is diluted in 1 liter of water. salt, heated to a boil and placed in water for 2-3 minutes pieces of vegetables. After that, they are immediately caught with a slotted spoon and transferred to ice water.

Pumpkin is traditionally marinated in a vinegar solution with salt, sugar and a variety of spices, depending on the recipe. The addition of vinegar at the very beginning of pickling plays a decisive role – it is the acid that prevents the pumpkin pieces from boiling and turning into porridge. They remain dense and even slightly crunchy. The more vinegar is used in the recipe for the winter, the more dense the pieces will remain and the more saturated the taste of the workpiece will be. But table vinegar can always be replaced with more natural varieties: apple or wine. Also use citric acid.

The amount of sugar for pickling pumpkin depends on the recipe and on the taste preferences of the hostess. Since the vegetable has its own sweetness, it is better to control the process by tasting the finished dish.

Finally, a little about spices. For marinating pumpkin, you can use almost the entire range of currently known spices, and each time the taste of the workpiece will differ from the previous one. Pickled pumpkin is especially respected in the Baltic countries, and in Estonia it is almost a national dish. They even call it half-jokingly – “Estonian pineapple”. In these countries, up to 10 different spices are traditionally used at the same time to give the pickled pumpkin an exotic flavor. For example, adding cinnamon and star anise will make a pickled snack taste like melon. A pineapple flavor comes from the addition of allspice, cloves and ginger.

Some recipes for pickled pumpkin for the winter with a photo are presented below, but the scope for your own creativity remains unimaginable.

Pumpkin pickled for the winter without sterilization

An almost classic recipe is described below, according to which pickled pumpkin for the winter can be prepared without undue hassle, but it turns out to be very tasty.

Prepare for soaking:

• 2 kg of peeled pumpkin;
• 1 L of water;
• 1 tsp. salt.

For the marinade:

• 1 L of water;
• 100 ml 9% vinegar;
• 100-200 g of sugar;
• Xnumx buds clove;
• 10 peas of sweet pepper;
• a pinch of ground dry ginger and nutmeg.

Ginger can also be used fresh, grated on a fine grater.

This recipe, although it takes 2 days, is not difficult at all.

1. The peeled pumpkin is cut into strips or cubes. Put in a saucepan, pour in saline and leave for 12 hours.

   

2. The next day, the water for the marinade is heated to a boil, spices and sugar are added there.
   Attention! Those spices that are put in their whole form are first folded into a gauze bag so that later they can be easily removed from the marinade.
3. Boil for about 5 minutes, take out a bag of spices and add vinegar.
4. Pieces of soaked pumpkin are thrown into a colander, allowing water to drain, and placed in a marinade.
5. Boil for about 10 minutes, then lay out in pre-sterilized jars, pour hot marinade and roll up.

Marinating pumpkin for the winter: a recipe with cinnamon

In exactly the same way, it is easy to pickle a pumpkin for the winter with the addition of ground cinnamon or a cinnamon stick.

All ingredients remain the same, but in addition to 1 kg of pumpkin pulp add 1 cinnamon stick.

Quick Pickled Pumpkin Recipe

According to this recipe, you can enjoy the finished snack after a day.

You will need:

• 1 pumpkin, weighing about 2 kg.
• 1 L of water;
• 0,5 Art. l salts;
• 1 tsp citric acid;
• 0,5 cup of sugar;
• 5 lemongrass leaves;
• 5 g herb Rhodiola rosea (or golden root).

Manufacture:

1. The vegetable is peeled and seeds are cut into thin sticks and blanched for several minutes in boiling water.
2. At the same time prepare the marinade: boil water, add sugar, salt, citric acid and leaves of rhodiola and lemongrass.
3. Blanched pumpkin sticks are placed in sterile glass jars, poured with boiling marinade and immediately rolled up hermetically with sterile lids.
4. For additional natural sterilization, the jars are turned over, wrapped with something warm on top and left to cool for a day in this state.

Pickled pumpkin recipe with mint and garlic

An appetizer according to this recipe for the winter is obtained with a very original taste and aroma, which is hard to resist.

For a 1 liter jar you will need:

• 600 g pumpkin pulp;
• 3-4 garlic cloves;
• 2 Art. l wine vinegar;
• 2 tsp natural honey;
• 1 tsp dry mint;
• 2 tsp. salt.

Preparation:

1. Cut pumpkin pulp into cubes and blanch.
2. Chop the garlic into thin slices.
3. Thoroughly mix the pumpkin, garlic and mint in a deep bowl.
4. Lightly tamping, spread the mixture into sterile jars.
5. Top each jar with honey, vinegar and salt.
6. Then fill the jar with boiling water, cover with a lid and place for calcination in an oven preheated to 120 ° C for 20 minutes.
7. After the jar roll up and leave wrapped to cool.
8. The appetizer will be available for tasting only after two weeks.

Easy Lemon Pickled Pumpkin Recipe

In a similar way, you can cook a very fragrant pickled pumpkin with citrus fruits, but without the addition of vinegar.

You will need:

• 300 g of peeled pumpkin pulp;
• 1 large lemon;
• 1 orange;
• 500 ml of water;
• 280 grams of sugar;
• 1 a starlet of badin;
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon;
• 2-3 carnation buds;

1. Pieces of pumpkin and orange are laid out in layers in jars.
2. Pour boiling marinade made from water, sugar, grated lemon and spices.
3. Sterilize for 25 minutes and roll up.

How to pickle pumpkin with honey for the winter in jars

A fragrant pickled pumpkin is made in a similar way with the addition of honey instead of sugar. The ingredients are needed in the following quantities:

• 1 kg of pumpkin pulp;
• 1 L of water;
• 150 ml apple cider vinegar;
• 150 ml of any honey, except for buckwheat;
• 2 bud of carnation;
• 4 black peppercorns.

Sterilize the workpiece for about 15-20 minutes.

Marinated pumpkin for the winter: an Estonian recipe

Estonians, for whom pickled pumpkin is a national dish, cook it a little differently.

Prepare:

• about 1 kg of pumpkin pulp;
• 1 L of water;
• 1 liter of vinegar 6%;
• half a pod of hot pepper – optional and to taste;
• 20 g salt;
• a few leaves of lavrushka;
• 4-5 g spices (cloves and cinnamon);
• a few peas of black pepper.

Preparation method:

1. The vegetable is cut into small slices, blanched and transferred to cold water.
2. After cooling, distribute into clean glass jars.
3. Prepare the marinade: add all the spices to the water, boil for 3 minutes, add vinegar.
4. Slightly cooled marinade is poured over pumpkin pieces in jars and, covered with lids, left in the room for 2-3 days.
5. After these days, the marinade is poured into a saucepan, heated to a rapid boil and the pumpkin is poured over it again.
6. After that, it remains only to twist the banks.

Spicy recipe for pickled pumpkin with hot peppers

In this recipe, pumpkin is pickled for the winter with a more familiar composition of ingredients, and the result is a spicy snack with universal use.

Prepare:

• 350 g pumpkin pulp;
• 1 head of onion;
• 4 clove of garlic;
• 1 pod of hot pepper;
• 400 ml of water;
• 100 ml of vinegar 9%;
• 50 grams of sugar;
• 20 g salt;
• 10 peas black pepper;
• 70 ml of vegetable oil;
• 4 bay leaves and cloves each.

Preparation:

1. Onions are cut into half rings, pumpkin – into cubes, garlic – into slices.
2. Seeds are removed from hot peppers, cut into strips.
3. Banks are sterilized and put in them a mixture of chopped vegetables.
4. The marinade is prepared in the standard way: spices and spices are added to boiling water, boiled for 6-7 minutes, vinegar and vegetable oil are added.
5. Boiling marinade is poured over vegetables, rolled up and cooled under a blanket.

Pumpkin marinated for the winter with apples and spices

Vitamin and fragrant, a pumpkin blank for the winter in apple juice is obtained.

You will need:

• about 1 kg of pumpkin pulp;
• 1 liter apple juice, preferably freshly squeezed;
• 200 grams of sugar;
• 40 ml apple cider vinegar;
• a few pinches of ground ginger and cardamom.

Cooking is very easy and fast:

1. The vegetable is cut in any convenient way.
2. Sugar, vinegar and spices are added to apple juice, boiled and poured over pumpkin sticks.

   

3. Cool to room temperature and boil again for about 20 minutes.
4. The pumpkin is transferred to prepared jars, poured with boiling marinade syrup and rolled up.

How to pickle pumpkin with horseradish and mustard for the winter

You will need:

• 1250 g peeled pumpkin;
• 500 ml wine vinegar;
• 60 g salt;
• 100 grams of sugar;
• 2 bulbs;
• 3 Art. l. grated horseradish;
• 15 g mustard seeds;
• 2 dill inflorescences.

Preparation:

1. Sprinkle the diced pumpkin with salt and leave for 12 hours.
2. In a boiling marinade made from water, vinegar and sugar, blanch vegetable cubes in small portions and transfer to a colander to drain excess liquid.
3. The cooled cubes are placed in jars along with onion rings, pieces of horseradish, mustard seeds and dill and poured with hot marinade.
4. Leave for impregnation for another day.
5. After that, the marinade is drained, boiled and the pumpkin is poured over again.
6. Banks are immediately corked for the winter.

Sweet Pickled Pumpkin Recipe

The sweet and sour and fragrant taste of this preparation for the winter will surely attract all the sweet tooth.

For 1 kg of peeled pumpkin, prepare:

• 500 ml of water;
• 1 st. l. vinegar essence;
• 250 grams of sugar;
• 4 Cloves;
• 3 peas of black and allspice pepper;
• a piece of fresh ginger, 2 cm long;
• 2 pinches of nutmeg;
• cinnamon and anise – optional.

From this amount of ingredients, approximately 1300 ml of the finished pickled product can be obtained.

Preparation:

1. The pumpkin pulp is cut into small cubes.
2. Vinegar essence and sugar are diluted in warm boiled water.
3. Pour vegetable cubes with the resulting marinade and leave them to soak, at least overnight.
4. In the morning they put all the spices in a gauze bag and send them to soak to the pumpkin.
5. Then the pan is put on heat, brought to a boil, boiled for 6-7 minutes on low heat under the lid and set aside for at least half an hour.
6. The pumpkin pieces should be translucent but still firm.
7. The bag of spices is removed from the workpiece, and the pumpkin is laid out in sterile jars.
8. The marinade is again heated to a boil and filled with jars of pumpkin to the very neck.
9. Seal with sterile lids and let cool.

Rules for storing pickled pumpkin

Pumpkin under seaming lids is stored in a cool place without light for about 7-8 months.

Conclusion

Pickled pumpkin for the winter is a harvesting that is very diverse in taste and composition of ingredients. But it is very tasty in sweet, salty, and spicy form.