Nettles and onions make a delicious dressing for first courses. Quick marinating will give the greens a new original taste. Nettle is an underrated inhabitant of the garden, but this stinging plant can be considered “ vitamin bomb».
The nettle and onion preparation is added to vegetable stew and in salads. But the main purpose is to be a decoration for rich green meat borscht.
Taste Info Vegetables and herbs / Other preparations
Ingredients
- young nettle – 350 grams,
- green onion -100 grams,
- salt – 1 tablespoon,
- sugar – 1 tablespoon,
- vinegar 9% - 50 milliliters,
- water – 250 milliliters.
How to prepare pickled nettles with green onions for the winter
Nettle is a treacherous plant, so it is better to protect your hands with thin gloves. The harvesting season begins in May and ends at the end of June, at which time the leaves and stems of nettle remain especially tender. Onions are chosen with thin stems; only green feathers are used for pickling.
Onions and nettles are washed, the water is shaken off, and the plants are laid out on a wooden board. 
Green onions are cut into standard - centimeter strips. The nettles are sorted out: the succulent tops are pinched off, the leaves are torn off. Nettle stems are not suitable for pickling. All the greens are transferred to the pan. 
Pour boiling water over the nettles and onions, cover with a lid, and leave for 10 minutes. 
After steaming, the greens become softer and decrease in volume. 
The water is poured into another container, and a marinade is then prepared from this liquid. 
Nettles and onions are placed in a dry, sterilized jar. The volume of the jar is 500 milliliters. The greens are laid tightly, but not compacted.
Measure out 250 milliliters of water, add salt and sugar. Boil the marinade for 2 minutes, turn off the heat, and pour the marinade into the pan.
The hot marinade is poured into a jar with nettles and onions. There are then two possible options for completing the process. If you intend to put pickled nettles in the refrigerator, you can immediately roll up the jar, turn it over and wrap it in a towel.
This soup dressing can be stored for 2-3 months. For more long-term storage You need to additionally sterilize the jar. 
The greens and marinade should not rise above the line of the jar hanger. Cover the dish with a lid and place it in a saucepan with warm water, spread on
bottom with a napkin or thin towel. Sterilization of a half-liter jar lasts 5-7 minutes, the time is measured from the moment the water boils. After sterilization, the jar is rolled up, turned over, and wrapped. The workpiece is stored in the cellar. 
Borscht and soups are prepared using pickled nettles. When pickling, fairly large cuts are used; the nettle leaves remain intact. When pickled nettles are taken out of the jar, they are chopped again so that thin strips of greenery get into the soup.
Fresh nettle contains a large number of vitamins K, B2 and C (four times more than lemon), so it must be consumed all year round. Let's look at several options for freezing nettles for the winter to preserve them. healing properties and taste.
Why do you need to freeze nettles for the winter?
Many people unknowingly destroy nettle thickets, but it contains useful substances much more than the greens already familiar on our tables. For a long time it was used only in the summer or dried, but with the advent of new technologies, people wondered - is it possible to freeze nettles for the winter? The first experiments were crowned with success, but there were some mistakes, thanks to which it was possible to draw up certain rules for storing the plant. Now you can enjoy your favorite cabbage soup and pies at any time of the year.
You only need to collect young shoots of nettles or their tops. If the plant has bloomed, you need to cut it and wait until new leaves appear. It is recommended to cut the stems in June so that it has time to grow by August. Thus, you can prepare dishes with fresh nettles at the beginning and end of summer.
Preparing nettles for freezing
Before freezing nettles for the winter, they need to be cleaned and prepared. After assembly, the plant should be washed as quickly as possible and left to dry, otherwise the leaves will lock and darken.
- To begin, place the stems in a container with salted water for half an hour. This is enough to get rid of small insects and particles of earth and sand.
- Carefully remove the nettles and rinse under running water.
- We spread it in a thin layer on paper towels; they absorb moisture faster, and the leaves should not lie for more than two hours.
- Place the tray in the shade under a draft.
- Approximately every 15-20 minutes we turn the greens so that they dry on all sides.
Some people blanch the shoots in boiling water after washing, but then some of the beneficial substances are lost.
Frozen nettles are added during the cooking process, without allowing it to melt. The only exception is the preparation of nettle filling, where it cannot be used in any other way.
Choosing a method for freezing nettles for the winter
There are several ways to properly freeze nettles for the winter, each of them has its own advantages and is used for specific purposes.
- Freezing in a bag- after drying, place the leaves in portions into bags and place them in the freezer without tamping. This method saves appearance, but requires a lot of space.
- Crushed nettle- cut the leaves, like seasonings in store packages, place on a baking sheet and cover with cling film. In this form it goes into the freezer. After freezing, it is poured into bags.
- Frozen nettle juice- grind fresh herbs and dilute with a small amount of water. Next, squeeze out this mixture through cheesecloth and pour into ice cube trays. After freezing, pour the pieces of ice into one bag and store them in freezer.
- Nettle puree- finely chop the nettle leaves and mix with a small amount vegetable oil. Place the finished mixture into ice trays. Further everything is as in the previous version.
- Bunches of greenery- We place the washed and well-dried branches into small bunches and wrap each one with cling film. After wrapping, store them in the freezer.
It is advisable to use various ways- the cubes are good for broths, and the branches are good for decorating or preparing cabbage soup and filling.
Stinging nettle grows almost everywhere: in vacant lots, along fences and roads. Most of us consider this plant a weed and avoid contact with it in every possible way, because nettle leaves sting painfully. But you shouldn’t neglect this very useful herb, as it is widely used for medicinal, culinary purposes, and also as a vitamin supplement for pets. We’ll talk about how to properly collect and dry nettles at home in this article.
Nettle harvesting should begin in early spring - early May, and end in mid-July. The most useful for culinary and medicinal purposes are the shoots and leaves collected in May.
Sergey Appolonov in his video will talk about the May harvesting of nettles
Older plants with a rigid stem can be harvested for pet food. The main thing is to have time to stock up on nettles before they bloom.
Plants suitable for harvesting have a uniform color. The leaves are clean, smooth and not shrouded in cobwebs.
You should start collecting in dry, sunny weather, armed with scissors or pruners. To protect the body from the painful “burns” of nettles, clothing should be made of dense material. Long sleeves and gloves will make picking greens more comfortable.
For drying, you can collect individual leaves or cut off the green part along with the stem. May nettles are dried in twigs, since the shoots of such nettles are still very tender.
Watch a video from the “Foretellers of the World” channel about the benefits and use of nettles
Methods for drying nettles
On air
This method provides several options:
- Nettle leaves or twigs can be laid out in one layer on a piece of fabric. The workpiece is placed under a well-ventilated canopy, in the shade. Periodically, the grass is turned over and turned over.
- Nettle branches are tied into small bunches and tied with leaves down. You can dry nettles in bunches in the attic or barn, the main thing is that the place is well ventilated and dark.
Drying time in a natural way depends on weather conditions. On average it takes 2-3 weeks.
Watch the video from Valentina Prokudina - Nettle. Vitamins for chickens
In the Russian oven
Place the green mass in a warm Russian oven and, stirring occasionally, wait until it dries completely. At the same time, the surface should not be very hot. To check, place a piece of paper in the oven; if it does not char, then the temperature is optimal for drying.
In the oven
If there is no suitable place for drying nettles, then you can use the oven. Drying temperature should be no more than 45 degrees. This condition is mandatory, since when elevated temperature a large amount decomposes essential oils and useful substances.
Also, when drying in an oven, you need to ensure proper ventilation of the product. To do this, keep the cabinet door ajar.
After the first 2 hours, the nettle leaves or twigs are removed from the oven and turned over. After this, the greens are again sent to dry until fully prepared.
In an electric dryer
The grates are evenly filled with greens. If your electric dryer does not have special mode to dry herbs, the heating temperature is set manually at 40 - 45 degrees. The dryer trays need to be swapped every 1.5 hours. The preparation time of the product depends on the form in which the greens are used. Leaves without stems dry in about 4 hours, but whole branches will take 8 to 10 hours.
In a convection oven
You can dry nettles in an air fryer. To do this, set the temperature to 45 degrees and maximum airflow. So that the greenery is constantly supplied Fresh air, the unit lid is not closed tightly. Drying time – 40 – 60 minutes.
Rules for storing dried nettles
Well-dried nettle leaves, when crushed, break and turn into powder, and the branches become hard and brittle.
For food and medicinal purposes, the leaves are lightly crushed and placed in clean, dry, dark glass jars with a lid. You can also store the herb in canvas bags in a suspended state so that the contents inside the bag are well ventilated.
To feed domestic animals (chickens, ornamental chinchillas), nettle branches are stored in bunches in a dark, dry place.
The shelf life of dry nettle is 1 – 1.5 years. The longer a product is stored, the lower its content of nutrients.
It's no secret that nettle is very useful, but in Lately many people undeservedly forget her. But since ancient times, people have been eating and treating with this plant. Nettle can replenish daily requirement in your body’s vitamins, so let’s learn how to properly collect and store it for the winter.
The best time to collect this useful herb The month is considered to be May. Nettle is young and tender during this period. For harvesting, cut only top part plants with delicate stems measuring approximately 10-15 centimeters.
If you didn’t have time to stock up on grass in time, then don’t despair, old nettle shoots can be cut off, and after a while fresh young shoots will grow in their place.
How to prepare nettles for freezing
The collected grass must be soaked in a salty solution for 20 - 30 minutes. This will help get rid of small bugs hiding in the greenery from your eyes. To prepare the solution, add to water table salt Calculation: 1 liter of water – 4 tablespoons of salt.
After this procedure, the nettles are rinsed clean water and dry. To do this, lay the greens on paper or cotton towels and gently blot the top with a cloth. The leaves are periodically tossed with your hands and the damp napkins are replaced with dry ones. If you open the window slightly and create a small draft, then drying it will go faster, the main thing is that the greens should not be exposed to direct sunlight.
Methods for freezing nettles
How to freeze nettles with whole leaves
The grass is prepared for freezing in the manner described above. Then the dried nettle leaves are placed in plastic bags and packed tightly, trying not to deform the greens.
Freezing nettles in bunches
You can freeze nettles in bunches. Small bunches are formed from washed and well-dried greens, which are then tightly packed in several layers of cling film.
Freezing chopped nettle greens
Before sending the grass to the frost, it can be chopped with a knife or special scissors for greens. To make the workpiece as crumbly as possible, the slices can be pre-frozen on a freezer tray. Once poured into one container, the greens can be used by removing the required amount of product from the bag.
You can skip the pre-freezing stage if you pack the chopped nettles in portions, for one time of use.
How to freeze blanched nettles
Nettles can be blanched before freezing. To do this, immerse it in boiling water for several minutes, then cool and squeeze.
Blanched nettles can be crushed and packed into containers, as Nikolai Tipatov does in his video - Harvesting nettles, preparing nettles for the winter for nettle soup
And Anita Tsoi will tell you how to freeze blanched nettles packed using a kitchen vacuumizer in her video “Preparing nettles” on her channel “Tsoika’s Recipes”
How to freeze nettle puree
This preparation is convenient to use for sauces and add to pureed soups. Fresh leaves and young stems are crushed in a blender with the addition of a couple of tablespoons of water.
The finished puree is laid out in silicone molds or special containers for freezing ice. To make the cubes more regular in shape, you can add more water to the cells. After the puree cubes are frozen, they are removed from the molds and packaged in bags or containers.
How to freeze nettle juice
The technology for preparing this preparation is the same as in the previous recipe, the only thing is that after grinding, 50-100 grams of water are added to the nettle puree, and then everything is thoroughly squeezed out. The pulp and juice are frozen separately from each other in ice cube trays. Ice can be added to soups and broths, and also used for cosmetic purposes.
How to store nettles in the freezer
Frozen nettles are stored in the freezer for 10 to 12 months at an average temperature of -16... -18ºС.
In order not to confuse nettle with preparations from other greens, containers and frozen bags must be signed, indicating the name and degree of grinding of the product, as well as the date of placing in the freezer.
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