The pumpkin family has an interesting representative called the squash. This garden vegetable pleases the eye with its unusual shape, similar to a flying saucer. Squash taste is also not disappointing. It resembles zucchini and asparagus, and in the marinated form - white mushrooms.
Vegetable is grown without much difficulty, brings a generous harvest. Since all fruits cannot be eaten right away, it is necessary to prepare them for the future. Squashes, like their relative - pumpkin, unpretentious to the conditions of storage.
How to keep fresh scallops
Eat the scallops as food better in the immature form. The young vegetable has not yet hardened skin, seeds have not formed. The flesh is pleasant and tender. When the squash ripens completely, its surface layer turns into an inedible shell, there are too many hard seeds inside, and the inside becomes loose and tasteless. Such a pumpkin can be easily preserved until spring, but it has no nutritional value or taste.
Young squatas are kept fresh at room temperature for up to two days. To save them longer, you need a refrigerator. At 8-10 degrees with a plus, the fruits will lie, without spoiling, for about a week.
If we provide the scallops with a humidity of 90% and a constant temperature of 1-2 ° C of heat, they will last up to two weeks. The first signs of decay will appear in some fruits only on the 10th day.
Storing fresh squash for the winter
For winter, you can prepare fresh patissons of medium ripeness. So that they do not spoil, you need to wrap each fruit in paper and put it in a dark and dry place. It is important to select the scallops with a smooth surface, without damage and scratches.
Tykviny should not touch each other. Periodically it is necessary to check the condition of the squash and time to eat those fruits that have begun to rot.
Squashes remain in good condition for up to six months.
Storing squash with freezing
To save patissons for the winter, fast freezing is most suitable. With this method, the taste of vegetables remains as if they had just been removed from the garden. Nutritional value of squash is the same.
Young small fruits with a diameter of approximately 7-10 centimeters are suitable for freezing. If the vegetables are bigger, they are cut in half.
The process of storage using freezing is very simple:
- Every squash wash in cold water.
- Put on the table to dry.
- Pack in plastic bags, remove the air and close. Hermetic packaging - optimal for the squash.
- Place container with vegetables in the freezer.
Squashes can be frozen, after cutting them into cubes or small slices. In this case, the amount of vegetables that will be used at a time should be put in the bag. In the frozen state, the scallops are perfectly preserved for up to 10 months.
How to keep dried pumpkins
If there is not enough space in the freezer, the squash can be dried.
The process begins with a thorough washing of the fruit under running water.
Then the squash is cut into thin plates and laid on a clean and flat surface. Pieces of vegetables are placed so that they do not overlap each other.
After the top part of the patissons is dried, and the edges are twisted, they are turned over.
In the oven, the drying process of squash takes 7-8 hours. During this time, pieces of vegetables must be flipped at least once. The temperature is set to 50 degrees, the door is left ajar.
Dried squash is advisable to use no later than 6 months.
Squashes are good for the body. Substances with which vegetables are filled are able to lower cholesterol, remove salts from joints, prevent thrombosis. In the squash weight of protein, vitamins and trace elements. Why not use this unique gift of nature? Moreover, the cultivation and harvesting of pumpkins is quite simple.
