Green peas are a traditional ingredient in salads, soups, appetizers or toppings. You can buy the product in the store or prepare it yourself. At the same time, homemade delicacies are distinguished by their usefulness, naturalness and pleasant taste. Preparing green peas for the winter is easy by following the recipes below.
Useful properties and contraindications of green peas
The green vegetable has been known for its beneficial properties since ancient times, as a remedy for various diseases.
A vegetable product is a storehouse of easily digestible protein, which is necessary for the proper functioning of the digestive tract and cell building. Peas are useful in the content of lysine, which is responsible for the functioning of the cardiovascular system. Peas are saturated with selenium, which cleanses the internal organs from the influence of toxins and carcinogens.
The composition of peas includes trace elements: magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, iron, iodine, which ensure the full functioning of the human body. By the presence of vitamins C, PP, group B, the vegetable occupies a leading position.
The low calorie content of the product should also be taken into account. There are 248 calories in 100 grams of peas.
But the elderly, pregnant girls or people with gout need to consume peas in limited quantities. Legumes increase the level of uric acid in the body, which accumulates in the joints, kidneys and organs. Peas can cause increased gas formation in their raw form and even after heat treatment.
Interesting fact. In 1984, a record was set for eating peas. Janet Harris ate 7175 green beans in 60 minutes.
Preparing the main ingredients
Preparing green peas for the winter is easy, given a few points:
- Choose young pods that are bright green in color with soft and juicy peas inside. Suitable varieties for conservation are:
- Alpha;
- vegetable miracle;
- Faith;
- Dinga;
- Jof.
Due to the excess starch in overripe grains, a cloudy precipitate forms during preservation, and when frozen, the dish will get an unpleasant taste.
- Properly prepare the grains. Sort the pods, separate the grains. Throw away the damaged peas, put the rest in a bowl, rinse and dry on paper towels.
Measure the amount of all ingredients indicated in the recipe in advance.
It is easy to prepare green peas for future use without effort if:
- remove the pods on the 8th day after the flowering of peas;
- use the vegetable on the day of harvest. Beans quickly lose their valuable properties and are filled with starch;
- cook only under sterile conditions to avoid the development of botulism.
How to prepare peas for the whole winter at home
You can prepare green peas for the winter in many ways, while maintaining the benefits of the product. Young peas are dried and used for soups, mashed potatoes or other dishes. And flour is prepared from an already dried product. Juicy and fresh beans can be frozen, both in pods and in individual peas. In addition, legumes are easy to pickle, pickle and preserve even without sterilization.
Canning
Green peas, without which not a single New Year can do, are conveniently prepared for the winter in a simple way - put them in sterile jars, pour boiling brine and roll them up.
Interesting to know. Peas are the first vegetable to be canned in a jar.
Preserve the classic way
The classic recipe with sterilization has been tested over the years and by millions of housewives. It is better to harvest grains during the period of abundant harvest - in early July.
Ingredients:
- Green peas - 600 grams.
- Water - 1 liter.
- Salt - 50 grams.
- Sugar - 50 grams.
- Citric acid - 2 grams.
Harvesting peas in the classic way is very simple, following the following steps:
- Prepare peas. Open the pods, pour the peas into the pan. Rinse the beans well and pat dry. Steam the peas in boiling water for up to 5 minutes.
- Wash cans with baking soda. Sterilize glass containers in any convenient way: steam, microwave or oven. Also boil the lids.
- Boil clean filtered water in a saucepan, add salt, sugar and lemon.
- Arrange the boiled peas in jars and pour boiling brine over them. Cover container with lids. Remove the opened peas, as they will make the brine cloudy.
- Sterilize the seaming for 3 hours and roll up. Then transfer the glass container with canned peas to a towel, turning upside down. Cover the jars with a blanket and leave in this form until completely cooled.
Fast way without sterilization
It is easy to preserve green peas in a way that does not require additional sterilization. The recipe is designed for 3 half-liter jars or one 1.5 liter container.
Ingredients:
- Peas - 1 kilogram.
- Water - 1 liter.
- Citric acid - 3 grams.
- Salt - 90 grams.
- Sugar - 75 grams.
Step-by-step preparation plan
Boil water in a saucepan, adding salt, sugar. Boil the beans for 20 minutes. Pour lemon juice into a bowl and simmer for 1-2 minutes. During this time, prepare decontaminated jars. With a slotted spoon, transfer the peas to a sterile container, leaving 1-1.5 centimeters free from the top of the jar. Fill the bowl with peas with boiling marinade.
Close jars with clean lids and roll up. Lay the preserve on a towel with the lid down. Wrap the containers with a warm duvet and leave for 24 hours. Next, move the blockage to a cool place, sheltered from direct sunlight.
Did you know? Etiquette for eating peas has been prepared in the UK. Grains should not be pricked on a fork or collected with a spoon, but kneaded with the back of the cutlery.
Among the winter preparations, the appetizer “On Olivier”, which includes cucumbers along with peas, also remains popular. The taste of salting is sweetish. Fans of spicy snacks are advised to add hot peppers to the recipe.
Ingredients:
- Water - 1 liter.
- Cucumbers - 750 grams.
- Peas (peeled) - 250 grams.
- Cherry leaves, blackcurrant - 3 pieces each.
- Dill (sockets) - 3 pieces.
- Garlic - 3 cloves.
- Vinegar - 30 milliliters.
- Salt - 15 grams.
- Sugar - 25 grams.
Ingredients are selected based on 1 liter jar.
To salt peas with cucumbers for the winter, you need to prepare all the ingredients in advance:
- separate the peas from the pods and boil in salted water for 5-7 minutes. Boil old beans for up to 30-40 minutes. Throw all the peas in a colander and cool;
- rinse cucumbers and soak in cold water for at least 2 hours (or leave overnight);
- measure the indicated amount of bulk ingredients, vinegar and prepare fragrant cherry and blackcurrant leaves;
- peel the garlic cloves;
- disinfect jars and lids.
After that:
- Put currant and cherry leaves, garlic cloves and dill heads on the bottom of a glass container. Pack cucumbers tightly in jars, cover with peas on top.
- Fill jars with boiling water.
- Drain the water back into the pan and boil with the addition of vinegar, salt, sugar. Refill the container with brine and cover with lids.
Sterilize blanks for 5 minutes and roll up. Assorted canned vegetables for the winter are ready.
Marinating
Among the ways to harvest peas for the winter, the recipe for pickled beans is especially good. Winter pea snack is used in salads, meat, fish, vegetable delicacies or as a simple snack.
Pickled in pods
Peas can be marinated in a variety of ways. The most useful of the recipes is a vegetable marinated in pods. Thus, most of the vitamins and minerals contained in the hard tissues of the plant are preserved. And the pods themselves soften during conservation and are saturated with marinade.
Ingredients:
- Water - 1.25 liters.
- Pea pods - 500 grams.
- Citric acid - 5 grams.
- Sugar - 25 grams.
- Peppercorns - 4 pieces.
- Salt - 50 grams.
- Cinnamon - 1 stick.
- Vinegar (3%) - 0.4 liters.
Cooking method:
- Rinse the pods and soak for 2-2.5 hours.
- Boil water (0.75 liters) in a saucepan, add citric acid and shift the soaked peas. Blanch vegetables for 3 minutes in boiling water.
- Throw the peas into sterile jars, adding salt, black peppercorns and cinnamon in equal amounts.
- Bring the remaining water (0.5 liters) to a boil to prepare the marinade. Pour vinegar and sugar into a bowl. Boil the brine for 3 minutes and fill them with jars of peas.
- Cover the glass container with lids and send to a deep pan for sterilization. It is enough to give the blanks a 20-25 minute processing and roll up the lids.
Turn the containers upside down and leave to cool completely.
To cook peas similar to store-bought, it is better to use the proposed recipe without sterilization. It turns out a tender-sweet preparation with green peas and a transparent marinade.
Ingredients:
- Peas - 500 grams.
- Water - 0.5 liters.
- Salt - 10 grams.
- Sugar - 10 grams.
- Vinegar - 25 milliliters.
Transfer the peeled peas to a saucepan and pour boiling water over it. Boil the beans for 15 minutes. Remove the peas with a slotted spoon and put them in the ice liquid for 3 minutes. Leave boiling water for the marinade, adding salt, sugar and vinegar. Transfer the peas to disinfected jars. Fill containers with boiled brine and seal. Turn the container upside down, wrap with a blanket and cool.
A simple blank without sterilization is ready.
Marinate without vinegar
Preparations prepared for the winter without vinegar are considered the most useful, as they have a beneficial effect on metabolism.
Ingredients:
- Peas - 5 kilograms.
- Salt - 15 grams.
- Water - 4 liters.
- Place green peas in a cloth bag.
- Prepare salt marinade and boil it. Dip a bag of beans into the boiling liquid and steam for 5 minutes.
- Take a pot of cold water. Throw the pea bag sharply into the ice solution.
- Arrange the cooled semi-finished product in jars and pour boiling marinade over the containers. Seal jars with lids. Transfer to storage in a cool place.
Green grains that have undergone such preservation are allowed to be eaten by people with gastrointestinal or mucosal problems.
In order for the blanks to be stored longer and not explode, you need to sterilize the container with peas for at least an hour.
Drying
Drying is an easy way to harvest green peas for the winter, allowing you to maximize the preservation of nutrients and vitamins.
The legume is dried in two different ways:
- In pods. To do this, sort the pods, rinse and steam in a colander over boiling water. Then cool the legumes, break into several pieces and lay in one layer on a baking sheet. Dry the vegetable in the oven at a temperature of 60-70 degrees.
- Only peas. In this case, open the pods and sort out the grains. Rinse the prepared beans with water and boil in boiling water for 2-3 minutes. Immediately dip the peas into the icy liquid and drop them back into the boiling water. Once again, using a slotted spoon, transfer the beans to cold water. Thus, the grains will have a natural green color during further processing. Scatter the peas on a baking sheet in one layer and send to dry in the oven at a temperature not exceeding 40 degrees. After an hour, remove the dryer from the oven and cool.
If there is a special kitchen appliance for drying fruits and vegetables, peas are also harvested for the winter by laying the grains on a special grate and setting the appropriate mode.
The main thing when drying is not to miss the ideal moment of harvest - 30 days from the moment the plant blooms. The grains will be sweet and tender. Hard and overripe peas are not suitable for drying, as they have an unpleasant bitter aftertaste.
Freezing
Frozen peas are an excellent and quick alternative to all methods of preparing food for the winter. This method takes a minimum of time and effort, and legumes are stored for up to 8 months.
Methods for freezing vegetables
There are 3 ways to quickly freeze beans at once:
- Classic variant. Rinse peeled and sorted peas with water. Dip the grains in boiling water and transfer to the ice liquid. After that, dry the peas and sprinkle with a thin layer on a special freezer tray. Frozen grains should be packaged in bags or containers, indicating the date of freezing of the product.
The classic freezing method is suitable even for overripe legumes, it will improve the taste of the product.
- Express option. Rinse the vegetable pods well and dry. Remove the peas and fill the bags with them, releasing as much air as possible. Give the blanks a rectangular shape and send to the freezer.
- Quick Freeze. Rinse legumes and review for damaged or already yellowed pods. Cut the pods into several pieces. Transfer the chopped vegetables to a colander and blanch for 3-5 minutes. Then douse the pods with water and lay on napkins to dry. The last step is to place the pods in bags and put them in the freezer compartment.
For the preparation of first courses, frozen pods or peas are used, without even waiting for them to thaw. But for salads and snacks, pre-thaw the beans on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator.
Interesting fact. Great Britain is considered the largest producing country of green peas. Sowing more than 40,000 hectares a year with green peas, it produces 160,000 tons of frozen product, which is transported around the world.
About the rules for storing peas
The term and storage conditions of legumes depend on the harvesting method:
- dry peas are stored in a darkened room with constant air access and low humidity. It is better to place dried grains in glass containers or cloth bags. Eat throughout the year;
- frozen grains are left in the freezer compartment, packaged in plastic bags or plastic containers. The shelf life of the product is not more than 10 months;
- canned, pickled peas retain their beneficial properties for 1 year. If you place the preservation in the cellar or leave it in the refrigerator, the shelf life of the product will increase to 2 years, subject to the rules of harvesting.
