How to Dry Courgettes: 4 Ways

When the season of the massive zucchini harvest comes, not every housewife has enough imagination to come up with ways to make them. Zucchini caviar mastered all, assorted cucumbers, tomatoes and cabbage canned ... But then what? There is not enough room in freezer for the whole harvest. How to preserve this wealth so that in the winter you can prepare ragout and sauté? Very simple - zucchini should be dried. They will be much healthier, and yes, tastier than those that you can buy in the store in the winter.

How to choose zucchini for drying

Zucchinis of different varieties, all maturity dates and all colors are suitable for drying: white, yellow, dark green or striped, including zucchinis. Mature, overgrown specimens and very small ones are also suitable.

But still the best are young vegetables about 20 cm long, with tender flesh, thin skin and a green tail. They have the greatest number of useful substances for humans.

If zucchinis are not grown in your own garden, but are bought at the market, and it is therefore unclear in what conditions the vegetables were grown, you should keep in mind that too bright, smooth and shiny skin, as a rule, indicates that they have a lot of nitrates. This is also indicated by dry stalks. And if the skin is cracked and peeling, this is likely a sign that the plant from which the zucchini was picked is sick.

How to prepare a vegetable for drying

1. For dried zucchini to be perfectly safe, the first thing to do is to wash them thoroughly. Given the fact that ripening vegetables lie on the ground, it is better to wash them with soap.
2. If the zucchini are young, you do not need to cut the skin off them, you can cut right away. Large, mature vegetables need to remove both the rough skin and the seeds.
3. Zucchinis for drying can be cut in different ways: young ones should be cut in rings 0.5 to 1 cm thick, others - in slices or cubes.

Sometimes overripe vegetables are blanched before drying: they are lowered into boiling water, after a minute and a half or two minutes the boiling water is poured through a colander, and the sliced zucchinis are covered with ice water. Then remove excess water from the zucchini with paper towels.

Some housewives prefer not to blanch, but to salt the zucchini slices. When the juice comes out of the vegetables, they are dried with a paper towel. Thus, zucchini are ready to go for drying.

How to dry zucchinis at home

The Italians, who were the first to dry zucchinis, did so by laying them out in the sun. Whether such a method is suitable for her, each hostess decides for herself: perhaps the summer will fail, there will be few sunny days, and then it will be necessary to resort to the help of the oven, electric dryer or microwave.

In any case, zucchini should significantly decrease in volume and weight. Usually from 1 kg of raw product you get no more than 150 grams of dry.

In the oven

The oven for drying zucchini should be heated to 40-45 degrees.

1. While it reaches the desired temperature, on baking trays lined with baking parchment paper, spread the rings (or cubes) of zucchini, while making sure that they do not lie closely. There should be at least a couple of millimeters of space between the slices.
2. When the zucchini trays are in the oven, leave the door ajar to allow air to circulate freely so that the moisture is removed from the inside.
3. After 2 hours, turn the zucchini over, and turn the baking tray - so that the pieces that were at the back wall were near the ajar door.

Usually in the oven zucchini dry out in 9-10 hours, and during this time the procedure of turning the vegetables should be repeated several times - so that the process goes more evenly.

In an electric dryer

To dry zucchinis in an electric dryer you need to set the temperature to 50 degrees.

1. Pieces of zucchini spread evenly, in a single layer on the lattice trays of the dryer, trays set on top of each other and start the device in operation, timer programmed for 2 hours.
2. As soon as the specified time expires and the dryer stops working, switch the trays in places to equalize the drying process, since the lower "floors" zucchini dries faster than the upper ones. After that, start the program again for 2 hours.
3. Usually in an electric dryer zucchini are ready in 7-8 hours, so you will have to rearrange the trays several times. However, depending on the type and power of the dryer, it may take even less time, the hostess should be guided by the appearance of zucchini, as well as to determine the degree of readiness to the touch.

In the dryer of zucchinis can be made not only a semi-finished product, but also a finished product - candied fruits.

1. Diced zucchini put in a saucepan and cover overnight with granulated sugar. For 600 grams of zucchini slices you will need 250 grams of sugar. In the morning, add to the pot the zest of one lemon and juice squeezed from it, and grate 5 g of ginger.
2. Put the pan on the fire, and after boiling, cook with stirring for 5 to 10 minutes. When zucchini cool, drain the syrup through a colander (it is not necessary to pour it out, it is quite suitable as an addition to the compote from any seasonal berries) and spread them on a paper towel to drain the remaining syrup.
3. Place the pieces on the racks of an electric dryer and turn on the appliance for 2 hours at 60 degrees.
4. When the time is up, rearrange the trays and touch how much of the candied fruit has come to maturity. The finished product should not stick to your hands, but inside remain dried, not dried. Run the device for another hour and a half, and during the process periodically monitor the degree of readiness of the product, you may have to turn off the dryer earlier.
5. When the candied fruits have cooled, transfer them to a plate and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

In the microwave.

Zucchinis can be dried and in a microwave oven, they will be ready quickly, but the full time will have to pick up by experience. In this case, it is recommended to set the power mode on the device about 600 watts.

The process of drying in the microwave is due to the penetration of microwaves inside the slices from all sides. Therefore, it is important to cut the vegetable as uniformly as possible in cubes or rings. If, however, zucchini slices are not so ideal, the larger slices should be placed closer to the edge of the plate, where they will cook faster.

1. So, lay a cotton cloth on a flat dish, put cubes or circles of zucchini on top of it, cover the vegetables with a cotton cloth and put in the microwave.
2. Turn on the timer for 7 minutes. Once the microwave is done, remove the dish and see if the raw materials are ready.
3. Flip the slices over and send back into the microwave.
4. Set the timer for 30 seconds, at the end of which again check the degree of readiness of the product. If necessary, repeat the procedure again or maybe even two more times - until the zucchini is completely dry.

You can make healthy vitamin chips from zucchini in the microwave:

1. To do this, cut the young fruit as thin as possible in thin rings, you can even do it with a wide knife, which comes with many cutters, as well as use a cabbage chopper to get the rings. Rings out of it go literally translucent - that's what you need for chips.
2. For the rings to get a nice golden color, they need to be greased with olive oil or sunflower oil. For better taste, sprinkle both sides with sea salt and spices - pepper, honeysuneli, dried minced garlic, dried herbs - basil, dill or parsley. Here each hostess is free to choose what she and her family members like.
3. Cover the dish with baking paper and grease it with a little vegetable oil, place the rings on the paper so they do not touch each other, and send it to the microwave for at least 5 minutes, setting the power to 600-800 watts. The zucchini may not be covered on top, so that they will cook through.

If the initially set 5 minutes are not enough until the chips are completely dry, you can add a few more sessions of 30 seconds, in between which to check the readiness of the snack. The zucchini vitamin chips should be crispy. They can be served immediately or stored in a glass hermetically sealed container in a non-frying room.

In the sun

Drying zucchini in the sun will take the longest time. Depending on the weather and how you slice the product, it can take up to three weeks!

Baking trays or trays are not suitable for zucchini: since this vegetable has a lot of water, the heat and wind must have access to it both above and below, otherwise everything will rot.

1. Dice or ring-cut zucchini in a single layer on a lattice or mesh tray, which should be placed outdoors. Choose a sunny, well-ventilated place to dry zucchinis, out of the reach of car exhausts and dust clouds.
2. Place one layer of gauze on top of the trays so that insects have no access to the zucchini.
3. While the vegetable slices are roasting in the sun, turn each piece over daily to dry evenly, and in the evenings be sure to bring the trays indoors to keep the zucchini from dewing.

If you can't get gridded trays, and you want to dry zucchini rings, you can thread them on a strong string and daily hang out these "beads" in a sunny place, not forgetting to hide them from flies under the gauze!

How to determine if the product is ready

The best way to determine the degree of readiness of zucchini can be in the cooled form - an hour after they were taken out of the microwave oven, oven or electric dryer. Properly and properly dried produce should not look as dried. Of course, you should not dry them to the point that they break, let the slices remain elastic, amenable to bending, but they should not release moisture when bent. The appearance of dried zucchini is usually slightly darkened and wrinkled.

How to Store Dried Courgettes

More than other containers for storing dried zucchinis, glass jars with tightly sealed glass lids will do. In such a container, the dried product does not break down and is able to last, without losing its external appeal and consumer properties, for at least a year. Jars should be removed to dark shelves in closed cabinets: it is impossible for the product to get sunlight, it destroys the useful substances contained in the vegetables.

There are hostesses who store dried zucchini in cotton bags boiled in a strong salt solution (a glass of salt per glass of water). This option is possible, but these vegetables should be checked often, because because of the fact that there is no way to make the bag airtight, insects can get to the zucchini. Even salt poured inside will not save.

Zucchini should not be stored in plastic or metal containers for the same reason - the contents of unsealed dishes are always available for fruit moths and moths.

What are the benefits of dried zucchini

Fresh zucchini has a lot of water - almost 90% of its composition. Therefore, when the water is evaporated during drying, the concentration of vitamins, minerals and other beneficial substances per unit weight increases significantly. Each ring of the vegetable becomes like a kind of vitamin "pill". And there are many useful substances in zucchini.

Ascorbic acid is important for the development and renewal of cells, maintaining immunity. Vitamin B1 is an essential component of a number of metabolic processes in the human body, including protein, carbohydrate, and fat metabolism. Vitamin B2 is essential for a strong skeleton, healthy skin, and is responsible for the condition of nails and hair. Carotene removes harmful radicals, strengthens the immune system, reduces the risk of infections and increases stress resistance. Nicotinic acid is involved in the synthesis of hemoglobin, and also improves digestion, calms the nerves, normalizes heart and vascular function.

Despite its external simplicity, zucchini is a real treasure trove of micro- and macronutrients that are essential for humans. It is potassium, widely known for its positive effect on the cardiovascular system, brain and muscular activity. The combination of phosphorus, calcium and magnesium present in zucchini helps maintain the smooth functioning of the nervous system, the normal rate of tissue healing and metabolic processes in the body, controls the metabolism and condition of bones, teeth, nails and hair, and through regulation of the acid-base balance increases resistance to infection.

Zucchini also contains manganese, iron, selenium and zinc in limited amounts.

Benefits:

1. With all the rich set of vitamins and minerals, zucchini is low-calorie and hypoallergenic. Therefore, it can be given to infants as a first complementary food, to pregnant and nursing women, as well as those who have decided to lose weight.
2. Zucchinis are recommended not only for obesity, but also for atherosclerosis, tendency to edema and constipation. Systematic use of zucchini regulates the digestive organs and protects them from damage. Dried zucchini are especially useful for the elderly because they allow them to keep their digestive function in order even in winter.
3. Patients who have problems with the liver, heart and blood vessels, zucchini are also indicated.
4. Thanks to diuretic abilities these vegetables are especially valuable in cases of the need to remove excess water and salts from the body, as well as in cases of gout and urolithiasis.
5. As zucchini has long been recognized by experts as a natural antioxidant, its constant use (including dried form in winter) significantly reduces the risk of cancer.

What can be cooked with dried zucchini

Before you start cooking any dish from dried zucchini, they need to recover, or rehydrate - that is, let the vegetables swell. In hot, salted water, they reach the desired size and consistency in about an hour, after which the water should be drained. For a glass of dried vegetables you need half a glass of liquid. It is not recommended to use too much water at once; if it is absorbed, and zucchini are still a bit dry and not fully swollen, it is better to add water repeatedly.

When you plan to cook a soup or a vegetable stew with these zucchini, there is no need to soak them first, since they will come to the desired moisture during cooking.

In winter dried zucchini can be put in soups, stews, salads, stir-fried together with minced meat. Beautifully this vegetable is combined with mushroom soup - fans of the dish say that in it dried vegetables themselves in taste and appearance resemble mushrooms.

And as an independent dish, dried zucchini is good - especially if they are fried with garlic and mayonnaise. Delicious!

Even dry zucchini fritters can be baked! To do this, you need to turn them with a grinder or blender into zucchini flour. And you can eat them without fear of getting sick! And for infants for complementary feeding, you can make a puree of such zucchini.

Korean-style dried zucchini

1. Soak a good stack of zucchini, dried in rings, in salted water for a quarter of an hour.
2. Then boil them in water for 20 minutes and put them in a colander (do not pour out the vegetable broth). When the water has drained away, put the vegetables in a salad bowl.
3. In a pan, heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil, pour it into the zucchini, add a couple of spoons of vegetable broth, spices for carrot, 8-10 minced garlic cloves, and dress with 2 tablespoons of vinegar, mix everything and send to the fridge for 3-4 hours.
4. When it is ready, serve as an appetizer.

Warm Salad

1. While dried zucchini (100 g) will cook for half an hour in salted water, prepare a salad dressing, for which you should peel a couple of cloves of garlic, grate the zest of half a lemon and squeeze the juice from the fruit.
2. Boiled zucchini remove with a slotted spoon. While the water drains from them, fry the squeezed garlic in sunflower refined oil, add the zucchini and the juice and zest.
3. Add spices to the skillet, and if desired, hot chili peppers.
4. Under a closed lid, simmer the pan over low heat for about 3 minutes.

Zucchini in batter

1. Place about 20 rings of dried zucchini in a bowl of salted water at room temperature for 35-40 minutes.
2. While the vegetables are swelling, prepare the batter. Whisk 2 eggs, add 50 ml of cool water and a teaspoon of any vegetable oil and, continuing to stir the mixture, add a quarter of a teaspoon of salt, a tip of soda and 60 grams of flour. You can supplement the batter with spices of your choice.
3. When the zucchini swell, dip the rings in the batter, so that they are completely covered with liquid batter, and fry in a pan in any vegetable oil.

Zucchini Snack Cake

1. Put 40-45 dried zucchini rings in salted water for 40-45 minutes. When they have swollen, fry them in butter. To remove excess oil, immediately after frying, place the rings on a paper towel.
2. Prepare the mixture for the layers of the cake - the so-called "cream". Take a glass of mayonnaise, crush in it with a crusher (or very finely chop with a knife) 5-7 cloves of garlic and chop a bunch of fresh herbs - feathers of onion, parsley, dill.
3. Then lay out the zucchini on a wide plate - so that the ring partially (overlapping) lay on the adjacent. Each layer spread "cream" of mayonnaise, on top lay the next layer of zucchini. It is good, if you can make 4 layers.
4. Take the cake to the fridge in the morning, to soak it well. Serve as a cold appetizer.

Mashed Vegetable Soup

In addition to dried zucchini, you will need dried eggplants for the soup, take them equally - a large handful each.

1. Soak the vegetables in salted water, and when they recover - cut into smaller pieces.
2. In a deep frying pan or a saucepan, pass coarsely grated carrots, onion chopped in half rings. When they are almost cooked, add a large potato, put zucchini and eggplant and add a liter of water.
3. Stew the vegetables for about 20 minutes, then add a tablespoon of tomato paste and spices to taste.
4. After another 3 minutes, use a blender to puree the contents of the pan.

Porridge with zucchini

1. In a saucepan in vegetable oil fry chopped onion and finely grated carrot. Add 3-4 rings of dried zucchini, pour half a glass of water and stew for 10 minutes.
2. Rinse out half a glass of groats (rice and buckwheat will go equally well with zucchini), pour it into a saucepan and add more water - so that it covers groats by at least 2 cm.
3. Salt and over low heat bring the porridge to the readiness. To make the groats softer and more flavored with vegetables, you can keep the porridge on the stove for half an hour.
4. At the end of cooking, stir the porridge, add a pinch of dried garlic and dill. After a couple of minutes, you can turn off the heat.

Stew

1. Put three diced potatoes in a cast iron and, pouring them with a glass of water, put on the fire.
2. While the potatoes are boiling, put in a pot of vegetables in this sequence: carrots (diced), cabbage (chopped into short strips), onion (diced) and add dried diced zucchini. Zucchini do not need to pre-soak. The last thing to send in the pot is sweet peppers cut into squares. It is up to the hostess to decide on the quantity of vegetables: some people like more cabbage in the stew, some like a lot of zucchini. And maybe someone will want to put extra eggplant or a handful of fresh peas. Salt the stew.
3. While the vegetables are stewing, saute a couple of whole garlic cloves in olive oil in a pan. Once they give off the flavor of the oil and start to turn golden, take them out of the frying pan and put a couple of spoonfuls of tomato paste in it. Cook for about 5 minutes.
4. When the vegetables are almost cooked, add the garlic oil-fried tomato paste and cook for about 3 more minutes. Just before taking the stew off the stove, put chopped fresh herbs in it, dill will go very well with this dish.
5. Cover the pot with a lid and let the stew infuse for 20 minutes.

And only when the vegetables have rested a little and finally soaked in the flavors of each other, you can call the family for dinner.

Dry zucchini soup

1. Rinse a handful of dried zucchinis, put them in a pot and pour a liter of water. Cook over a medium flame until the zucchinis have softened.
2. Peel 3 potatoes and carrots, cut them into cubes.
3. Remove zucchini with a slotted spoon from the pot, let them cool, and strain the broth, put carrots and potatoes in it and put back to boil. Salt to taste.
4. Cut a large onion into small cubes, fry in a pan with two tablespoons of olive oil until golden. If the zucchini were dried in cubes, you can immediately send them to the pan with the onion, if dried in rings - cut into small pieces. Sweat the vegetables in a pan for another 7 minutes - and you can send them to the pot. In conclusion, once again assess the soup for the amount of salt. If necessary - add salt, and remove from the heat.
5. When serving, pour a handful of dill and put a good spoonful of sour cream on each plate.

Scrambled eggs with zucchini

1. Before proceeding directly to the preparation of the eggs, 5-6 rings of zucchini briefly boil in salted water.
2. Swollen and softened zucchini take out of the water, blot with paper towel and fry in butter until slightly golden. You can put a couple of pieces of cooked sausage in the pan.
3. After that, break eggs into the frying pan - by the number of zucchini rings. Salt the eggs and garnish with dill.

If you want - you can sprinkle with grated cheese.

Zucchini casserole

1. Keep the rings of dry zucchinis (25-30 pieces) in slightly warm water for half an hour.
2. While the vegetables are swelling, fry the minced meat in a pan with onions, season with salt and pepper.
3. On the bottom of a greased with vegetable oil form put a dense layer of zucchini rings, salt them and put the fried minced meat as the second layer. The third layer - again of zucchini, which should be sprinkled with salt, the fourth - minced meat. Zucchini should finish the casserole.
4. Salt the top layer, smear it with mayonnaise, sprinkle with fresh chopped dill mixed with minced garlic.
5. Cover the casserole with grated cheese and put it in the oven, where it will bake for 20-25 minutes at a temperature of 180 degrees.

Serve the casserole both solo and with sour cream.

Meat "under the fur coat"

1. Soak 10 rings of dried zucchini to swell, and in the meantime, prepare the rest of the products.
2. Cut into small pieces 500 g of pork, beat the meat and put it aside for now.
3. Finely chop an onion and fry it in vegetable oil. Take zucchini out of water and chop them in not very coarse julienne. Mix zucchini with fried onions, a tablespoon of mayonnaise, two grated cloves of garlic and fresh chopped greens.
4. Cut 2 medium sized tomatoes into rings.
5. On a baking tray greased with vegetable oil, lay a layer of chopped meat slices, on it - the prepared "coat". Then put a layer of tomato rings and grated cheese on top. Send the dish to the oven for 25 minutes, cook at 200 degrees.

Turkey with vegetables

1. Soak a handful of diced dried zucchini and eggplant to swell. If you only have rings of vegetables, cut them into smaller pieces after soaking.
2. Meanwhile, marinate the vegetables. To do this, dice one potato and one carrot, cut 2 bell peppers into julienne strips, chop an onion in half rings, cut 2 garlic cloves into quarters. Put everything in one bowl, pour a tablespoon of soy sauce, 2 tablespoons of tomato paste and an incomplete spoonful of olive oil. Add the swollen zucchini and eggplant, salt, sprinkle with ground pepper mixture, coriander and other favorite dried herbs, mix.
3. While the vegetables are marinating, cut 1 kg of turkey fillet into pieces about 2x3 cm, pour a teaspoon of honey and 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, add crushed garlic, salt, pepper and mix.
4. Put the vegetables and meat into the fridge for 1.5-2 hours.
5. When the products have marinaded, cover a small baking tray with foil with high rims, put the marinated vegetables in an even layer on the bottom, put the meat as the second layer. Cover the tray with foil and put it in an oven heated to 230 degrees for an hour and a half.
6. After the specified time, remove the foil, put a mixture of two tablespoons of mayonnaise, 150 g of cheese and chopped greens - dill or parsley - on the meat. Put the tray in the oven.

The dish will be ready in 20-25 minutes.