Ramson for the winter

Residents of the central regions of Russia have a rather poor idea of ​​what the wild garlic actually looks like, for which southern traders often give out tough pickled arrows of garlic in bazaars. But real wild garlic is a delicate and very fragrant greenery, so rich in vitamins and other useful substances that alone it is able to cope with all spring ailments. It is not difficult to prepare wild garlic for the winter - there are many options for delicious and quick recipes for its preparation. It is much more difficult to find it on sale, especially in those regions where it is not found in the wild.

How can you save wild garlic for the winter

Ramson is a common name for two varieties of perennial onions, bear and victorious. They also call it a flask. This amazing plant is also called wild garlic by many for the obvious garlic aroma that emanates from all its parts. Although in the very taste of wild garlic, the bitterness characteristic of many representatives of the onion family is completely absent. It tastes delicate, albeit spicy with a spicy undertone. This herb acquires special value due to the fact that it appears in early spring, at a time when there is practically no completely fresh greenery in the gardens, and even in nature. In the Caucasus, it appears in February-March, in Siberia, the Urals and the Far East later, closer to April. The most tender are young wild garlic sprouts, when the plant has not yet fully opened its leaves. At this stage, it is not easy to distinguish it from other representatives of corms, especially poisonous lilies of the valley. Therefore, it is necessary to be extremely careful when collecting. Garlic aroma can help in identifying wild garlic, which will not allow it to be confused with other plants. But the period for collecting the delicate aromatic herb is not too long. Its leaves grow rather quickly, then become slightly coarse, becoming sinewy, and the plant begins to lay buds. Therefore, in order to harvest for the winter from the so-called wild garlic - wild garlic, one should not particularly relax. Indeed, unlike many other spicy herbs, including perennial ones, wild garlic does not grow to order at any time. If the moment of preparation is missed, you will have to wait for the next spring.

There are many ways to prepare wild garlic for the winter. The most popular are pickled wild garlic, as well as pickled and salted. These types of blanks allow you to keep wild garlic for the winter, almost fresh, with its inherent aroma and tenderness of the stems.

For those who are not too fond of the garlic aroma, you can try to dry the wild garlic.

There are many recipes for making all kinds of sauces and seasonings for the winter with this unique spring herb.

It is very easy to prepare wild garlic frozen, and there are techniques that allow you to keep it in such a state that after defrosting it will be just like fresh.

Healthy tinctures are also made from it.

When harvesting wild garlic for the winter, you should not get too carried away with a variety of additives and spices that can interrupt the aroma and taste of this herb.Only tomatoes and garlic are ideally combined with it, and the addition of the latter in a small amount further enhances and emphasizes the taste of the finished dish.

How to freeze wild garlic for the winter

Freezing is rightly considered the easiest way to harvest wild garlic for the winter. After all, this does not require anything superfluous, all items can be found in any home: an ordinary freezer, a sharp knife and plastic bags.

The most important thing is to carefully and correctly prepare the greens for freezing. First, the grass is washed conscientiously, using either running water for this, or changing the liquid in the basin several times. After all, both the stems and the leaves are usually quite heavily contaminated with soil, from which they are practically dug out. Then the grass is sorted out, discarding withered, rotten and otherwise damaged specimens.

Before freezing, the grass must be well dried, for which it is laid out in one layer on a paper or cloth towel and left in this form for several hours in a place protected from sunlight.

Then the leaves themselves and the stems are cut across into not very large pieces, 1-2 cm long.

Then you can freeze wild garlic in two main ways. Moreover, the further use of the herb depends on the chosen method of freezing.

Freezing wild garlic in bags

The dried and cut greens are distributed in small portioned bags so that the contents of one bag can be consumed at a time.

It's good if the packages have zip fasteners. If ordinary bags are used, without fasteners, then after laying inside the grass, their edges are carefully sealed (you can do this with foil and an iron). This procedure is necessary not only for better preservation of the workpiece. Due to its garlic aroma, all food in the freezer can become saturated with the smell of wild garlic if the bags are not sealed. By the way, for more compact storage, it is better to roll the bags with herbs into tubes, label each one and place it in the freezer in this form.

When using this method of freezing, of course, part of the taste is lost, but all the valuable elements are preserved, first of all, vitamin C.

But there is one more technique that allows you to preserve the taste and aroma of fresh wild garlic with the loss of a certain amount of nutrients. To do this, the cut grass is dipped in a colander for just 30-60 seconds in boiling water almost immediately after washing. Then they cool, dry slightly, as usual on a towel, and distribute in portioned bags.

After defrosting, wild garlic prepared in this way can be added to vegetable salads, to any first and second courses where garlic is required. In addition, thawed wild garlic can be used to make a delicious solo salad with boiled egg and sour cream or mayonnaise. Thawed greens can be used as a filling for pies, and for adding to eggs, cutlets, zraza. They even add it to bread dough.

Ramson frozen in ground form

It is very useful to freeze some of the greens in the ground form. To do this, the chopped grass is passed through a meat grinder or chopped in a blender bowl. The result is a thick and fairly concentrated puree. It is laid out in ice cube trays or muffins. It is better to use the smallest molds so that you do not have to cut them into pieces later.

All molds with wild garlic are placed in the freezer for 12-24 hours. After that, the frozen pieces of greens are removed from the molds and transferred to hermetically sealed bags.

Frozen shredded herb is a pleasure to add to a variety of sauces and gravies for main courses. It is suitable as an addition to first courses, especially to puree soups.

With further heat treatment of dishes, wild garlic puree can be added to them without even defrosting.

Harvesting wild garlic for the winter: drying

During the drying process, wild garlic greens significantly lose their aroma, but this may even be an advantage for those who find its smell too harsh. Most of the nutrients are retained, and dried wild garlic can be used in the same way as other dry aromatic herbs: for adding to soups, seasonings, sauces, baked goods.

1. The leaves are also thoroughly washed and dried on a towel.
2. Then cut into pieces and place on a tray in a warm, dry place without light.
3. You can dry the greens by spreading them out on the trays of an electric dryer at a temperature of about + 35-40 ° C.

How to make wild garlic pesto sauce with nuts for the winter

Among all the recipes for preparing wild garlic for the winter, Pesto sauce is one of the most original. The traditional Italian Pesto sauce is usually made from basil. But the attractive aroma and taste of wild garlic make it a wonderful base for this sauce.

You will need:

• about 500 g of fresh wild garlic;
• 4 tbsp. l. pine nuts (can be replaced with walnuts or almonds);
• 150-200 ml of olive oil;
• 1 tsp salt;
• ½ lemon;
• ½ tsp ground black pepper;
• 3 tbsp. l. grated hard parmesan cheese.

Manufacturing:

1. At the first stage, it is important to thoroughly rinse the greens from the ground, rinse and then dry them no less scrupulously. If moisture remains on the shoots, then the sauce will not be able to persist for a long time.
2. When using walnuts or almonds, chop them into as small pieces as possible. For better preservation of the workpiece, the nuts are preliminarily lightly fried in a dry and clean frying pan.
3. Pine nuts themselves are very oily and tender, therefore, they do not need strong chopping and even more roasting.
4. Grind the cheese on a fine grater.
5. Of course, if you follow the old customs of traditional Italian cuisine, then the herbs must be ground in a wooden mortar. But for a modern recipe, it is enough to pass it through a meat grinder.
6. Juice is squeezed out of half a lemon.
7. Thoroughly mix chopped wild garlic, nuts, cheese, lemon juice in a deep container, add salt, pepper and olive oil.
8. Beat the mixture thoroughly.
9. The finished sauce is laid out in small sterile jars, poured over with olive oil, and tightened with sterile lids.
10. In this state, the sauce can be stored in the refrigerator for about a year.

We prepare wild garlic in oil for the winter

You can preserve wild garlic in a very simple way, which is, nevertheless, one of the most reliable, allowing you to do without heat treatment.

You will need:

• 0.5 kg of leaves and stems;
• 1 tsp salt;
• 0.5 l of olive or other vegetable oil.

Manufacturing:

1. The stems and leaves of wild garlic are washed in cold water and dried.
2. Put in a blender or food processor, add salt and vegetable oil.
3. Puree.
4. They are laid out in sterile jars so that all the greens are covered with oil on top.
5. Tighten with boiled lids and store in a cold place (cellar, refrigerator).

How to cook wild garlic in tomato for the winter

Ramson with tomato is a classic combination that can also be used for excellent harvesting for the winter.

To prepare wild garlic for the winter with tomato you will need:

• 1 kg of wild garlic greens;
• 200 g tomato paste or 300 g homemade tomato juice or sauce made from twisted tomatoes.
• 1 tbsp. l. salt;
• 1 tbsp. l. Sahara;
• 250 ml of aromatic vegetable oil.

Manufacturing:

1. The greens are sorted out, washed thoroughly and dried.
2. The selected stems and leaves are crushed through a meat grinder.
3. Mix with tomato paste or sauce, add vegetable oil, salt, sugar.
4. The mixture is heated to a temperature of + 100 ° C and boiled for exactly 1 minute.
5. Place in small glass containers and sterilize covered with lids for 20 minutes.
6. Twisted and put in winter storage.

Recipe for cooking wild garlic for the winter with lard

Very simply and quickly, you can make a delicious putty from wild garlic with lard for the winter. The result is a fantastically tasty preparation that can be spread on sandwiches or added, if desired, to any dishes.

You will need:

• 400 g lard without meat and peel;
• 200 g of fresh wild garlic greens;
• 50 g of salt;
• spices to taste and desire.

Manufacturing:

1. The bacon is cut into small pieces, sprinkled with salt on all sides and, folded into a small glass dish, left in the room under the lid for a day.
2. The next day, shake off excess salt from the bacon and pass it through a meat grinder.
3. Meanwhile, the wild garlic is sorted, washed and dried.
4. Also passed through a meat grinder.
   
5. The grated bacon is mixed with wild garlic puree, if desired, spices are added to taste.
6. The resulting mass is laid out in sterile jars.
7. The workpiece is stored under sterile lids in the refrigerator for a year.

Shelf life of wild garlic blanks

Whichever recipe is chosen, it is not worth saving the wild garlic blank for more than 1 year. Most likely, after this period, the aroma of the herb will have already been lost, and the taste will leave much to be desired. It makes more sense to replenish stocks every spring with young fresh grass.

Conclusion

There are many ways to prepare wild garlic for the winter, so such a vitamin supplement should be present all the time in the daily and festive menu. In this case, many dishes will be able to sparkle with new colors, and diseases, most likely, will recede into the background.

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