Squash got their name from the shape of the fruit. It is translated from French as "pie". The vegetable is considered one of the lowest in calories, but it also contains a large amount of valuable minerals. Squash can be cooked in different ways, but they are especially tasty pickled.
Squash is an unusually healthy and tasty vegetable that has an unusual appearance that attracts attention. Its energy value is only 19 Kcal per 100 g of product. Moreover, it contains valuable trace elements, vitamins, fiber. From squash you can prepare a wide variety of dishes and preparations for the winter. Pickled vegetables are an excellent appetizer and addition to meat and fish dishes.
Pickled squash (recipe with sterilization)
Pickled squash can be successfully harvested for the winter. To prepare a snack you need:
- 1 kg of young squash;
- 1 liter of water;
- bay leaf;
- 2 cloves of garlic;
- 1 tbsp. l granulated sugar;
- 2 tbsp. l coarse rock salt (not iodized);
- 4 tbsp. l vinegar 9%;
- 8 black peppercorns;
- 2 sprigs of dill (without umbrellas) and parsley.
In order for the squash pickled in jars to turn out to be delicate and crispy, you need to choose young fruits. For this recipe, vegetables are ideal, which are no more than 5-6 cm in diameter. Small squash can be pickled whole, and large ones can be cut into 2 or 4 pieces. Previously, each vegetable should be cut off the stalk, capturing 1-2 cm of the edible part. You do not need to clean them. The peel of the squash is quite thin. If you cut it off, the workpiece will not look very attractive.
Put the peeled patissons neatly in a saucepan with water and boil for 5 minutes, and then immediately remove and cool in cold water for at least 5 minutes. This is to ensure that the vegetables retain their firm consistency and remain crispy. Arrange the squash in jars. In this case, glass containers do not need to be sterilized, since the jars will be sterilized when filled. Put in jars peeled garlic, cut in half, dill and parsley sprigs.
Pour clean water into a separate saucepan, add salt (you need coarse salt without additives), sugar, peppercorns, bay leaf and bring to a boil. Add vinegar before turning off the stove, as it tends to evaporate. Pour water into a saucepan, and also do not forget to put a towel on the bottom and put jars on it. The water should cover the container by 2/3 the height. Pour brine over the filled jars and cook for 10 minutes, then immediately screw or roll up with sterile lids. Turn the jars very gently down with their lids, laying them on a wooden surface or wooden stand, and then wrap them up with a blanket. After they have cooled down, you can store the workpieces in a dark and cool place.
Squash marinated with apples (without sterilization)
The use of apples in canning gives the squash a peculiar taste reminiscent of cucumber. To prepare an original snack you will need:
- 1 kg of squash;
- 0.5 kg of apples (sour or sweet and sour is better);
- 2 tbsp. l coarse rock salt;
- 2 tbsp. l sugar;
- 1.2 liters of water:
- small hot pepper;
- on a sprig of dill and parsley;
- 5 peppercorns;
- 1 tbsp. l vinegar 9%
Remove the stalks from the squash with a sharp knife, cut each fruit into several pieces, depending on the size of the vegetables and the selected volume of the jars. Cut each apple into 4 pieces and remove the cores. Blanch the squash in boiling water for 5 minutes, and then put in cold water to cool.
Sterilize cans over steam for 5 minutes. It is very convenient to use for such purposes special lining on the pan with a hole for the neck of the glass container. You can fry the jars in the oven for 10 minutes, gradually increasing the temperature from 50 ° C to 100 ° C. Put washed dill and parsley, blanched squash and apples, as well as hot peppers in a sterile container.
Pour clean water into a saucepan, put it on the stove, and also add salt, sugar, black peppercorns, bring to a boil. Add vinegar after turning off the stove and immediately pour the brine into jars, cover with sterile lids, turn over and immediately wrap them up, and after cooling down in a cool place, you can remove such blanks.
Squash with cucumbers and tomatoes or assorted vegetables
Squash can be marinated with cucumbers, tomatoes and even zucchini. To prepare assorted vegetables you will need:
- 2 kg of squash;
- 0.5 kg of very ripe tomatoes;
- 0.5 kg of large and dense cucumbers;
- 0.5 kg of bell peppers;
- 12 cloves of garlic;
- 2 horseradish leaves;
- 7 tbsp. l coarse rock salt;
- 3 tbsp. l sugar;
- a large bunch of dill;
- 10 black peppercorns;
- 12 Art. l vinegar 9%.
Remove the stalks from the squash, cut the fruits into several parts. Remove side parts from cucumbers. Soak the squash and cucumbers for 20 minutes in cold water, and then cut the cucumbers into 2 parts (if they are large), and blanch the squash in boiling water for 5 minutes, then cool them in cold water.
Cut ripe tomatoes into several parts. Remove the seeds from the peppers and cut them into thick strips. Peel the garlic cloves.
Rinse the glass containers well, and after washing, lay the horseradish sheets, gently tamp the blanched squash and other vegetables. Arrange the cloves of garlic in jars, well washed dill, black peppercorns. You can also put 2-3 allspice peas in jars. Put the jars in a water bath and fill with brine prepared in advance from water, salt, sugar, vinegar. The number of listed ingredients in the recipe is calculated for 3 liters of water. Add vinegar to the brine after boiling and before turning off the stove.
Fill the jars with the solution, cover and sterilize for 15 minutes. Then screw or roll up the lids, turn over the cans, wrap them up and, after cooling, put them in a cool place. You can replace table vinegar with vinegar essence and add it just before rolling the cans under the lid at the rate of 1 tablespoon per three-liter jar.
With the addition of squash, you can prepare any assortment. It is permissible to replace cucumbers, tomatoes or peppers with zucchini or even cauliflower. You can also adjust the ratio of vegetables yourself. You need to focus on your own taste and the availability of products.
Pickled squash with mint and horseradish
The squash marinated with the addition of mint and horseradish turns out to be very tasty. To prepare the blank you will need:
- 1 kg of small squash (preferably yellow);
- 2 small horseradish roots;
- 2 tbsp. l rock salt (not iodized);
- 3 tbsp. l sugar;
- 6 mint leaves;
- 3 peas each, black peppercorns and allspice;
- 120 ml vinegar 9%.
For this recipe, it is better to use small squash, which can be placed whole in jars. The specified amount of ingredients should be enough for 2-3 liter cans. Water consumption for making brine is 1 liter.
Remove the stalks from the squash. Peel the horseradish root (it is more convenient to do this with a vegetable peeler) and cut into small pieces. Blanch the squash in boiling water for about 5 minutes, then cool quickly.
Put blanched squash, horseradish roots in jars, put pepper and a few mint leaves in each of them. Prepare the marinade in a separate saucepan by dissolving salt and sugar in water. Gradually bring the marinade to a boil, add vinegar after the brine has boiled and turn off the stove after re-boiling the marinade.
Carefully put the filled jars in a hot bath, cover with lids, fill with marinade and sterilize for 15 minutes. The sterilization time depends on the volume of the selected container. It is recommended to boil a 3-liter jar for 20 minutes, and it is enough to sterilize half-liter jars for 10 minutes. Screw the metal lids or roll them up (for seaming lids), turn the jars very carefully down with the lids and wrap them up, and after cooling down in a cool place, remove.
Squash marinated in tomato sauce
An original appetizer can be prepared from squash by pickling them in tomato sauce. This will require:
- 1 kg of squash (large and overripe);
- 1 kg of ripe, fleshy tomatoes;
- 1 Bulgarian pepper;
- 4 cloves of garlic;
- 1 tbsp. l rock salt;
- 3 tbsp. l sugar;
- 1 liter of water;
- half a teaspoon of ground red pepper;
- 3 peas each, black peppercorns and allspice;
- 70 ml vinegar 9%;
- 70 ml of vegetable oil.
Squash for pickling in tomato sauce, even large, dense ones can be used. Remove the stalk from each vegetable, cut it into cubes or small pieces of arbitrary shape with a sharp knife.
Make cuts in the bottom of the tomatoes and scald them with steep boiling water so that it is easy to remove the skin. Peel the Bulgarian pepper, remove the seeds. Scroll the meaty tomatoes together with the pepper through a meat grinder, adding garlic cloves to them. Pour the resulting mixture into a saucepan. Then add rock salt, sugar, ground pepper, as well as water, vegetable oil. Bring the mixture to a boil and add vinegar at the very last moment before turning off the stove.
Instead of ground red pepper in this recipe, you can use half a pod of fresh hot pepper, but it must be peeled and rolled through a meat grinder with other vegetables.
Put pieces of squash in sterile jars, Patissons do not have to be blanched before placing them in jars. Throw a few peppercorns into each jar. Put the jars in a water bath and pour the resulting tomato marinade. Carefully cover the jars with the lids and sterilize the workpieces for 15 minutes, then screw the lids or roll them up. Such a preparation can be served both as a standalone snack, and as an addition to the main courses.
Pickled squash with carrots and sunflower oil
On the basis of squash, you can prepare a very interesting appetizer, the taste of which will resemble the taste of mushrooms, or rather pickled milk mushrooms. It is very easy to make such a delicacy. This will require:
- 1, 5 kg of medium-sized squash;
- 2 medium carrots;
- half a glass of excellent quality vegetable oil;
- half a glass of vinegar;
- half a glass of sugar;
- some spices;
- large head of garlic;
- a bunch of greens (preferably a mixture of dill and parsley);
- 1 tbsp. l of coarse rock salt.
Peel the squash in accordance with all the rules, not forgetting to remove the stalks. Cut each fruit with a knife so that the pieces are not very large. Peel the carrots and cut them into circles. You can make curly circles using a sharp knife or special tools.
Put the vegetables in a stainless steel or enamel bowl (to prevent oxidation) and add coarse salt (not iodized), granulated sugar, and vinegar. Put also spices, fresh herbs in the dishes. Peel the garlic head, put the cloves in a bowl. You can pre-cut them, but not finely. This recipe requires 9% table vinegar. Leave the vegetables to marinate for 3 hours.
Put all the contents of the bowl in jars together with the juice released, pour water and sterilize in a water bath for 10 minutes. Then screw the lids or roll them up, turn them over, wrap them up. After 12 hours, the jars can be removed to a cool place. The appetizer should be infused, so it should be eaten no earlier than after 2 weeks.
