Canned vegetables and fruits have long been an integral part of our diet. There are many varieties of this tasty and healthy product on store shelves. But nothing can be better than homemade preparations! Handmade, they are pleasing to the eye and can become the pride of any housewife. The most popular are, of course, tomatoes. Rich in vitamins and minerals, they are very beneficial for a healthy diet. August and September are the time for the massive harvest of this vegetable. The abundance of varieties allows housewives to create real masterpieces from fruits of different colors and shapes.
What fruits to choose?
You can preserve both ripe red fruits and unripe green ones. The main thing is that they are small and fit easily into the container. The most popular canning varieties are cream and cherry. It is better to use fruits with a denser skin so that it does not burst instantly during heat treatment. One condition - we take only strong, undamaged vegetables, because of one tomato, the whole jar may suffer.
Canning technology
As a rule, spices are placed on the bottom of carefully washed and sterilized dishes: dill umbrellas, parsley leaves, horseradish, black currant. Several peeled garlic cloves are added to each container. Sliced rings of onions, carrots or slices of sweet bell pepper look beautiful and give a special taste. Tomatoes are placed in jars, trying to leave as little free space as possible. After that, the contents are poured with boiling water, covered with lids and allowed to stand for 15-20 minutes. Then the water from the cans is poured into a saucepan and the marinade is prepared.
The easiest recipe
Marinade, also often called brine or pouring, is the main thing that provides the taste of conservation. More recipes, more flavors. Water, as its basis, is best used filtered, and if this is not possible, then settled. Salt, sugar and spices are integral parts of any marinade. The main preservative is vinegar or citric acid, which ensure the long-term preservation of the dish. It's all about proportion.
The housewives know that there are no “leaders” in the marinade, all components must be balanced: sour, salty - with a portion of sugar, spicy - with sweet vegetables. We will proceed from the fact that 0.5-0.6 kilograms of tomatoes and 400-500 milliliters of brine are placed in a liter jar.
Usually the marinade is calculated based on the proportion per 1 liter of water. To prepare the classic version, you will need 1 tablespoon of salt, 2 tablespoons of sugar, 10-20 milliliters of vinegar. After boiling, add salt and sugar. Spices: 2-3 bay leaves, a few peas of black and allspice, 1-2 cloves buds are always better to put in a boiling liquid, then it will be more fragrant. But vinegar can be poured into boiling water, or added directly to jars.
Pour the boiled marinade into containers and cover with lids. After that, we turn them over, cover and leave in this position for 2 days.
Sterilization recipe
Many housewives use this long-proven recipe. After the tomatoes are stacked and covered with marinade, the containers are covered with lids and put into a pot of water. Its level should reach the "shoulders" of the container, but strong boiling should not be allowed so that water does not get inside. Cover the bottom of the pot with a tea towel.
Sterilization takes place within 15-20 minutes from the moment of boiling, after which the finished cans are screwed with lids, turned over and wrapped.
Sweeter and hotter lovers
There are lovers of very sweet filling for tomatoes, in this case, add more sugar, increasing it to 3-4 tablespoons. A successful option is where the proportion is used: 2 tablespoons of sugar and 1 tablespoon of honey. The rest of the recipe remains unchanged.
Many people like their tomatoes to be spicy. To do this, you can add 1 small hot pepper to a 3 liter jar of tomatoes.
Green doesn't mean inedible
Unripe tomatoes are also good preserves. Just remember that not all fruits can be used. Tomatoes are light green, milky ripeness, darker ones cannot be taken, they are poisonous. The technology of preservation and preparation of marinade for such tomatoes does not fundamentally differ from an ordinary recipe. One tip: Increase your salt intake to 2 tablespoons for a good, full-bodied taste.
Jelly tomatoes
I would like to share an interesting recipe using gelatin. It is in it that the whole "zest" lies. Here are the basic steps for preparing this original dish.
Cut the tomatoes into slices, cut the onions and bell peppers into rings and put them in jars along with herbs and garlic. Dissolve 25 grams of gelatin in 50 ml of oxen. Next, we prepare the filling at the rate of 1 liter of water: 1 tablespoon of salt, 3 tablespoons of sugar, spices, 50 milliliters of vinegar. Add gelatin to the boiling marinade and stir it thoroughly. You can fill the container with the ready-made brine and tighten the lids. In winter, before serving, it is better to chill such a jar in the refrigerator to form a jelly.
"Naked" tomatoes
There is another unusual canning recipe - peeled tomatoes. The process of "undressing" does not take much time, if you cut the fruit beforehand and hold it in hot water for a couple of minutes. Peeled vegetables are tightly placed in liter jars, after having poured 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil into each one. The marinade is prepared based on the following proportion: for 1 liter of water - 1 tablespoon of salt, 2 tablespoons of sugar, 2-3 grams of citric acid and spices. The jars are sterilized in a saucepan for 10 minutes, after which they are closed with lids.
Making canned vegetables at home is an easy, quick, and inexpensive way to diversify your menu. The main thing is that after heat treatment the products do not lose their value, their benefits are long-term storage, low calorie content and the ability to avoid vitamin deficiencies in winter. Feel free to get down to business using these step-by-step recommendations and add your own tricks to regular recipes.
