Recipes > Freezing Produce
Celery
Wash the
stems - and the leaves too - for extra
flavour and goodness. Chop and freeze as
above - use what you need, and leave the
rest in your freezer.
Kumara
Scrub whole
kumara with the skins on - they have
fabulous flavour and goodness - and leave
them to dry. Cut off any marks, and the ends
if they're stringy. Leave them whole if the
right size for roasting, or cut into
roasting size pieces. Freeze in a bag -
they'll stay freeflow. To use: place pieces,
still frozen, into your oven-dish to roast
them. To make soup or to use mashed as a
vegetable, use in the same way as the
pumpkin.
Pumpkin
When you use
a pumpkin that you particularly like the
flavour of, spread the seeds out in a single
layer on a paper towel - discard the stringy
bits from between the seeds, and write on
the paper towel which type of pumpkin the
seeds are from, and the date. Leave spread
out until the seeds are completely dry, then
roll the paper towel up and pop the whole
thing in a sealed container until you're
ready to plant them.
To prepare
pumpkins for freezing: Scrub the pumpkins
and leave them to dry on a clean dishrack or
in colanders. Then: 1/ Once dry, cut the
pumpkins into roasting sized pieces - use
the skins too for extra flavour and goodness
- and place in a bag. Freeze - they'll stay
freeflow.. or 2/ Cut the pumpkins into small
cubes, using the skins too, and place in
bags. Freeze, giving the bag a shake every
hour or so., so the pieces will stay
freeflow.
Pumpkin - To
roast: place still frozen pumpkin in to
roast in your oven.. they'll take about the
same time as when roasted from fresh.
For soup:
pile pumpkin pieces into a large pot. Add
whatever else your prefer... chopped onions,
carrots, swedes, silverbeet, etc.. a tsp or
so of curry powder, some chicken stock and
place on the stove.. simmer until the
pumpkin is tender - about 30-40 minutes,
then either use a potato masher and mash the
veges together while still in the pot, or
use a kitchen wand or similar and blend. Add
milk or cream if a creamy soup is preferred,
and season to taste. Delicious soup that is
so easy to make.
For using
the pumpkin for quiche, pies, etc.. use
still frozen and bake as per your recipe. To
use mashed as a vegetable, place the
quantity you want in a saucepan.. almost
cover with water and simmer till tender.
Drain well and mash as usual.. You can also
use the mashed pumpkin to make a Pumpkin Pie
- a lovely slightly spiced dessert pie.
Silverbeet
and Spinach
Wash the
leaves and shake them to remove the water.
Chop into small pieces, using the stalks
too.. and place in a plastic bag. Place in
your freezer and give the bag a shake every
hour or so, the contents will then stay
freeflow.. Take out what you need and use
still frozen.. reseal the bag and it's there
for next time.
Swedes &
Carrots
Peel them
and cut into slices, sticks or chunks, and
freeze in a bag, shaking often to ensure
they remain freeflow. Add to soups or
stirfries.
Tomatoes
Wash your
tomatoes and leave to dry in a colander or
similar. To freeze them whole, place them in
bags, tie the top and freeze. They easily
stay freeflow. To use, add them still frozen
to casserole's, soups, etc.. To freeze them
as a pulp: place tomatoes in a food
processor and whizz them till pulped. If you
want, you can add onions, celery, pumpkin,
carrots, etc.. and whizz it all together to
form the pulp. Freeze in small containers -
margarine containers work well. When using
them, thaw or partially thaw, and use for
soup, tomato mince mixtures for Lasagne,
Spaghetti Bolognese, and other pasta or rice
dishes, etc.. You can also make the tomato
mince mixture and freeze this in meal size
quantities. |
