Can you eat zucchini from the veggie patch all year round? You can using these 6 preservation methods

Delicious, quick to prepare and versatile, courgettes (zucchini) are a vegetable that brings together both young and old. Present all year round in shops, courgettes grow in our veggie patches only in summer, when their contents of vitamins, minerals and essential nutrients is at its maximum and their taste is best.

But what if we want to eat zucchini all year round? Of course, we will not be able to enjoy them fresh, but the possibilities are numerous: from freezing to preserving in oil or vinegar, there are many methods for preserving these vegetables. We have selected 6 for you:

1. Zucchini in oil

There are many recipes for preserving zucchini in oil, and you can choose to preserve them naturally or flavored with garlic, spices and aromatic herbs. Whatever your choice, the recommendation is to cut them into strips or round slices, place them in a colander and sprinkle them with salt. Leave them to rest for two hours, then place them in sterilized glass jars with oil.

To flavor them, you can add to your preserves a clove of minced garlic, peppercorns or aromatic herbs such as mint, dill, estragon or wild fennel. Wait at least a month before consuming them to allow the flavours to penetrate.

2. Frozen zucchini

To freeze zucchini, you can cut them into cubes, slices or thin strips - depending on the use you want to make of them. You can also freeze them whole, as long as they are small in size.

In special airtight containers or bags, they can be stored for 8 to 12 months. When you remove them from the freezer you must cook them either immediately after defrosting.

3. Sweet and sour zucchini

Sweet and sour zucchini is a very easy recipe. You can cut the zucchini into slices and cook them in a pan for a few minutes with vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, a pinch of salt, a clove of garlic and sugar. Remove from heat, let them cool and place them in sterilized glass jars. Cover with a drizzle of oil and store. You can eat them for up to 5 months.

4. Pickled zucchini

Preserving zucchini in vinegar is the most common alternative to preserving them in oil and follows roughly the same steps. The zucchini, washed and carefully dried, should be cut into pieces and placed in sterilized glass jars. You can also add spices and aromatic herbs - such as pink or green pepper and parsley (but before putting these in the jar, make sure they are completely dry). Sprinkle the zucchini with a mixture of white vinegar (minimum acidity 6%) and water. The proportions for preparing the mixture are 600 ml of vinegar per 400 ml of water. Make sure there is a gap at the top of the jar of about 1 cm. Let it rest for an hour, then pasteurize the jar by boiling it in water for 20 minutes. Your preserve is now ready.

5. Dried zucchini

Drying is also a very popular method for the preservation of zucchini. It can be done in the sun, but only if the climatic conditions allow for this: it is necessary that the temperature is above 30 degrees and the area is sufficiently ventilated. Otherwise, the best choice is to use the oven. You can proceed by cutting the zucchini into slices no thicker than 3 mm and placing them on a baking sheet without any overlapping. Adjust the temperature to 50-60 degrees on ventilated mode (or leaving the door slightly open if your oven does not have this option) and leave your them for at least 12 hours to dry out thoroughly.

6. Zucchini in brine

Finally, zucchini in brine are perhaps not very common, but are still very good preserves. To prepare this, cut the zucchini into slices and place them inside sterilized glass jars together with dill. Prepare the brine with water, white vinegar, sea salt and sugar and boil it over medium-high heat. Pour the hot brine into the jars, leaving a space of about 1 cm from the top, close the jars and tumble them gently. Leave to cool for 30 minutes and place the jars in the refrigerator. You can consume your brined zucchini after 24 hours. The disadvantage of this method is the short shelf life: your zucchini will only keep for 3 weeks.

Which method do you prefer to preserve your zucchini?