When zucchini plants begin to produce in earnest, gardeners are overwhelmed with the abundance of the harvest. Although zucchini is ready quite staggered during the summer months, it is common to find boxes full of leftover vegetables.
Therefore, it is worth trying to summarize the best way to store this vegetable, trying to give some useful tips for storing it longer.
The first advice is perhaps trivial but certainly valid: when you have a lot of courgettes from the garden, the best strategy is not to keep them for a long time, but to try to consume them, cooking them in different ways in order to don’t get tired. Many recipes can be made with this vegetable: simple accompaniments such as trifoliate or grilled zucchini, or more elaborate dishes, pasta with zucchini with parmesan or stuffed zucchini.
Contents [Ocultar]
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Storing zucchini after harvest
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How to freeze zucchini
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Store cooked zucchini
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Ideas to keep them for a long time
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In a jar: oil, marinated, sweet and sour
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Dried zucchini: fries and flour
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Contents
Storing zucchini after harvest
Once the zucchinis are harvested and dry cleaned of any soil, they can be stored for a week without issue. The precautions are the basic ones, generally valid for vegetables: vegetables must be kept in a cool place, without too much light and paying attention to humidity. Zucchini should not bump or overlap too much, causing crushing. The fruit must be intact, if it is already damaged or cut in half it will last a few days.
A paper bag or perforated fruit box can be used as a storage container, but should not be stored in cellophane bags without perspiration.
If you put zucchini in the refrigerator, their shelf life will be extended by a few days.
How to freeze zucchini
Zucchini can be frozen raw or cooked. If you want to freeze them raw, they should be washed and sliced or patted before freezing, so they take up less space in the freezer and are ready to cook when needed.
To freeze the zucchini, you can decide to first put the flattened slices on a tray, so that they don’t stick together. Once frozen, they can be removed from the tray and put all together in a freezer bag.
The same process is perfect for freezing grilled zucchini and still having that big dish readily available to thaw.
Store cooked zucchini
After cooking the courgettes, the duration depends on the recipe used to prepare them (I suggest reading the recipes with courgettes offered by Orto Da Coltivare), but in any case, so that they do not spoil, they must always be consumed within a week and it is essential to keep them in the refrigerator. Grilled zucchinis generally last longer than other prepared zucchini, due to their lower water content.
For the preservation of each zucchini recipe, it is best to cover it with aluminum foil or aluminum foil and store it in the refrigerator in a cool place. If you want zucchini to keep for a long time, the alternative is to freeze them.
Ideas to keep them for a long time
There are several preservation methods that were developed in the past when freezers and refrigerators were not available, but are still valid and used today. The first method is to use preservatives, which preserve the vegetables from the air: courgettes are generally put in oil or vinegar. The second method is drying which, by depriving the vegetables of water, allows them to be stored longer.
In a jar: oil, marinated, sweet and sour
Storage in jars is a good way to make our vegetables last for months. When preparing this preserve, you need to be careful, which you can read about in the article on how to make safe preserves. The key element of the preparation is the vinegar which, thanks to its acidity, prevents the development of certain bacteria, including botulinum. The preservative liquid, whether oil-based or vinegar-based, has the task of perfectly covering the vegetables and preventing them from coming into contact with the air. The jars are pasteurized by forming a vacuum so that they last a long time.
Zucchini in oil and marinated zucchini are a great classic and can be eaten as a starter all year round. Sweet and sour zucchini is another tasty twist on the classic canned jar that is definitely worth trying.
Dried zucchini: fries and flour
Another traditional method of preserving zucchini is drying: this can be done in different ways. The oldest method is sun drying, but it is also the one that loses the most in quality. Good home drying is obtained with a ventilated oven, to keep it at low temperature and with the door ajar. The best system is the dryer which, by controlling the air flow and the temperature, allows to obtain the best quality result with low energy consumption.
If you want to make dried zucchini, you must start by cleaning them and cutting them into thin slices. The thinner the slice, the faster the drying process. Dried zucchini will keep for 3 to 4 months and can be used in different ways.
Thanks to the dryer, you can make excellent zucchini chips, a tasty and healthy snack to eat or as an appetizer, or you can grind dried zucchini into a kind of flour, which is very useful in the kitchen, especially for soups and velouté.