Content
Nettle is a common herbaceous perennial that prefers to settle near human dwellings, in river floodplains, in vegetable gardens, in thickets of bushes and in humid forests. This plant contains many components useful for human health, therefore it is recommended to use it for preparing various dishes that will serve as a source of valuable substances. You can prepare nettles for the winter in different ways, so you need to consider each separately.
Nettle leaves contain four times more ascorbic acid than lemon
Features of harvesting nettles for the winter
The collection of the plant must be carried out before the flowering period, when the content of nutrients in the leaves is high. For harvesting for the winter, you should use dioecious nettle, which grows throughout Russia. It is a perennial plant with erect shoots up to 2 meters high. Large serrated leaves are located along their entire length.
The surface of the shoots and plates is densely covered with hairs, upon contact with which a burning sensation is felt. Therefore, harvesting nettle leaves should be carried out with gloves. This can be done in late May or early June. Collect only healthy leaves and young shoots of the plant without signs of wilting, yellowing and deformation. It is recommended to harvest raw materials in dry weather after 9 am, when the dew has dried on the leaves.
When using a plant for preparing winter blanks, you must first thoroughly wash the raw materials and lay them in one layer on a cotton cloth so that excess water is gone. At the end of 1 hour, it can be used to prepare various dishes.
Canning
One of the ways of harvesting for the winter is canning. There are many variations where the main ingredient can be used alone or combined with other ingredients. Therefore, you should consider the best recipes for harvesting nettle for the winter, which will allow you to choose the most acceptable one.
Classic recipe
Before proceeding with the preparation of this blank, it is necessary to wash and sterilize the 0.5 liter cans. And also prepare the lids.
Would need:
- nettle - 1 kg;
- water - 350 ml.
Cooking process:
- Cut the washed leaves and shoots into pieces.
- Fold the prepared raw materials into a saucepan.
- Cover with cold water, bring to a boil.
- Cook for 5 minutes, put in jars and cover with lids.
- Sterilize 25 minutes, roll up.
After cooling down, transfer to the blanks in the basement or closet for long-term storage.
Canning nettle with spinach
When canning, you can combine nettle with spinach, which will dilute the taste and at the same time increase the vitamin content in the product.
For the preparation you will need:
- nettle - 1 kg;
- spinach - 2 kg;
- water - 1 l.
Cooking process:
- Chop the ingredients.
- Put the raw materials in a saucepan.
- Pour green mass with water, bring to a boil.
- Cook for 5-7 minutes, put in prepared jars.
- Cover and sterilize for 25 minutes, roll up.
At the end, turn the cans over, allow to cool. After that, transfer to the basement.
How to preserve with sorrel
This recipe will allow you to make a blank, which can later be used for cooking cabbage soup. In this case, the plant should be combined with sorrel.
It is necessary:
- nettle - 1.5 kg;
- sorrel - 1.5 kg;
- water - 1 l.
Cooking process:
- Cut raw materials, put in a saucepan.
- Fill it with water.
- Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes.
- Arrange in prepared containers.
- Cover the jars with lids, sterilize for 20 minutes.
- Roll up, allow to cool down.
How to pickle nettles
For this harvesting for the winter, it is recommended to collect the apical young shoots of the plant 6-8 cm long.
Required components:
- nettle - 1 kg;
- salt, sugar, vinegar - to taste.
Such a preparation will provide the family with useful vitamins for the whole winter.
Cooking process:
- Wash raw materials in hot water.
- Place it tightly in sterilized jars.
- Pour boiling water to the top, stand for 5-8 minutes.
- Drain the water into a saucepan, add salt, sugar and vinegar to taste.
- Boil the marinade and pour over the nettle.
- Cover the jars with lids and sterilize for 5 minutes, roll up.
After cooling down, transfer the workpieces to the basement for long-term storage.
Nettle juice
This plant is especially useful for people suffering from cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, in order to have a healthy product in winter, you can prepare juice on its basis.
Nettle juice cleanses the body and increases hemoglobin in the blood
Algorithm of actions:
- Pass the young shoots and leaves of the plant through a meat grinder.
- Add water at the rate of 1 liter per 1 kg of raw material.
- Stir and squeeze through cheesecloth.
- Re-pass the cake through a meat grinder, also dilute with water, squeeze.
- Combine both parts of the juice, add sugar or honey to taste.
- Pour the drink into prepared cans, cover with lids.
- Sterilize for 15 minutes, roll up.
Salting
Using this recipe, you can prepare nettles for the winter for soup. But the disadvantage of the product is that it should only be stored in the refrigerator, as it quickly deteriorates in the heat.
Required Ingredients:
- nettle - 1 kg;
- table salt - 50 g.
Salting is usually used for preparing first courses.
Cooking procedure:
- Finely chop the leaves and shoots of the plant.
- Divide the green mass into jars, sprinkling the layers with salt.
- Seal raw materials, close with nylon caps.
How to ferment nettles for the winter
This plant does not lend itself well to fermentation, since its aqueous extract is alkaline. Therefore, for the preparation of this blank, it is recommended to combine nettle with vegetable purslane, which has a sour taste. This will activate the fermentation process.
Required Ingredients:
- nettle - 2 kg;
- vegetable purslane - 0.5 kg;
- table salt - 2.5 tbsp. l.
Cooking process:
- Chop both plants finely.
- Transfer the green mass to a bowl and mix with salt.
- Cover with a linen napkin, put oppression.
- Leave to sour at room temperature for 2-3 days.
- Drain the resulting juice daily.
- Pierce with a wooden peg so that the resulting gases can escape.
- After that, pour the juice and return the oppression to its place.
- After 5-7 days, the foam will disappear, which indicates that the product is ready.
- Then put the nettle in jars, cover with lids and transfer to a cool room for storage.
Storage rules
To provide your family with vitamins during the cold season, you need not only to make blanks based on nettle, but also to provide them with storage conditions. The optimal mode is the temperature within + 4-15 degrees. Therefore, it is best to use a basement or refrigerator. But in their absence, you can store the workpieces in the pantry, on the terrace or in the apartment.
The shelf life of the product is 2 years.
Conclusion
Harvesting nettles for the winter is not difficult if you make an effort and observe the timing of collecting raw materials. In this case, you can be sure that all prepared products according to the proposed recipes will be beneficial to human health, since they will retain most of the vitamins and mineral components. But nettle has certain contraindications that should not be forgotten. Therefore, before using it, you need to familiarize yourself with them.
