Content
Nettle is a common herbaceous perennial that prefers to settle near human habitation, in floodplains, in vegetable gardens, in thickets of bushes and in wet forests. This plant contains many components beneficial to human health, so it is recommended to use it for preparing various dishes that will serve as a source of valuable substances. There are different ways to prepare nettles for the winter, so you need to consider each one separately.
Nettle leaves have four times more ascorbic acid than lemons
Features of harvesting nettles for the winter
The plant must be collected before the flowering period, when the content of nutrients in the leaves is high. For preparations for the winter, you should use stinging nettle, which grows throughout Russia. It is a perennial plant with erect shoots up to 2 meters high. Along their entire length there are large serrated leaves.
The surface of the shoots and plates is densely covered with hairs, upon contact with which a burning sensation is felt. Therefore, the preparation of nettle leaves should be done with gloves.This can be done at the end of May or at the beginning of June. You need to collect only healthy leaves and young shoots of the plant without signs of wilting, yellowing or deformation. It is recommended to harvest raw materials in dry weather after 9 a.m., when the dew has dried on the leaves.
When using the plant for preparing winter preparations, you must first thoroughly wash the raw materials and spread them in one layer on cotton cloth to remove excess water. At the end of 1 hour, you can use it to prepare various dishes.
Canning
One of the ways to prepare for the winter is canning. There are many options where the main ingredient can be used alone or combined with other ingredients. Therefore, you should consider the best recipes for preparing nettles for the winter, which will allow you to choose the most suitable one.
Classic recipe
Before you start preparing this preparation, you need to wash and sterilize 0.5 liter jars. And also prepare the lids.
Required:
- nettle – 1 kg;
- water – 350 ml.
Cooking process:
- Cut the washed leaves and shoots into pieces.
- Place the prepared raw materials in a saucepan.
- Pour in cold water and bring to a boil.
- Cook for 5 minutes, put into jars and cover with lids.
- Sterilize for 25 minutes, roll up.
After cooling, transfer to the blanks in the basement or pantry for long-term storage.
Preserving nettles with spinach
When canning, you can combine nettles with spinach, which will dilute the taste and at the same time increase the content of vitamins in the product.
To prepare you will need:
- nettle – 1 kg;
- spinach – 2 kg;
- water – 1 l.
Cooking process:
- Chop the ingredients.
- Place the raw materials in a saucepan.
- Pour water over the green mixture and bring to a boil.
- Cook for 5-7 minutes, put into prepared jars.
- Cover with lids and sterilize for 25 minutes, roll up.
When finished, turn the jars over and allow them to cool. After this, move it to the basement.
How to preserve with sorrel
This recipe will allow you to make a preparation that can later be used to prepare cabbage soup. In this case, the plant should be combined with sorrel.
Necessary:
- nettle – 1.5 kg;
- sorrel – 1.5 kg;
- water – 1 l.
Cooking process:
- Chop the raw materials and place them in a saucepan.
- Fill it with water.
- Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes.
- Place into prepared containers.
- Cover the jars with lids and sterilize for 20 minutes.
- Roll up and allow to cool.
How to pickle nettles
For this preparation 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.
This preparation will provide your family with useful vitamins throughout the winter.
Cooking process:
- Wash the raw materials in hot water.
- Pack it tightly into sterilized jars.
- Pour boiling water to the top, let stand for 5-8 minutes.
- Drain the water into a saucepan, add salt, sugar and vinegar to taste.
- Boil the marinade and pour it over the nettles.
- Cover the jars with lids and sterilize for 5 minutes, roll up.
After cooling, 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 based on it.
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 materials.
- Mix and squeeze through cheesecloth.
- Pass the cake through the meat grinder again, dilute it with water, and squeeze it out.
- Combine both parts of the juice, add sugar or honey to taste.
- Pour the drink into prepared jars and cover with lids.
- Sterilize for 15 minutes, roll up.
Pickling
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, since it quickly deteriorates in the heat.
Required ingredients:
- nettle – 1 kg;
- table salt – 50 g.
Pickling is usually used for preparing first courses
Preparation procedure:
- Finely chop the leaves and shoots of the plant.
- Divide the green mass into jars, sprinkling the layers with salt.
- Compact the raw materials and close with nylon lids.
How to ferment nettles for the winter
This plant is difficult to ferment, since its aqueous extract is alkaline. Therefore, to prepare this preparation, it is recommended to combine nettle with the 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:
- Finely chop both plants.
- Transfer the green mass into a bowl and mix with salt.
- Cover with a linen napkin and press down.
- Leave to sour at room temperature for 2-3 days.
- Drain the resulting juice daily.
- Pierce with a wooden peg so that the formed gases can escape.
- After this, pour in juice and return the oppression to its place.
- After 5-7 days, the foam will disappear, which indicates the readiness of the product.
- Then place the nettles 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 preparations based on nettles, but also to provide them with storage conditions. The optimal mode is temperature within +4-15 degrees. Therefore, it is best to use the basement or refrigerator. But if they are absent, you can store the blanks in the pantry, on the terrace or in the apartment.
The shelf life of the product is 2 years.
Conclusion
Preparing nettles for the winter is not difficult if you make an effort and follow the deadlines for collecting raw materials. In this case, you can be sure that all products prepared according to the proposed recipes will be beneficial to human health, as they will retain most of the vitamins and mineral components. But nettle has certain contraindications that should not be forgotten. Therefore, you need to familiarize yourself with them before using it.
