Sunday, August 16, 2009

Preserving Food ~ Freezing Zucchini for bread

I learned this trick a couple years ago from my best friend Sarah.

First you wash and dry the zucchini. Then grate it into a huge bowl like the one above.

Then you open your cookbook to your favorite zucchini bread recipe and put the exact amount into little baggies that go into a big baggie in the freezer. For me, that is a cup and a half for this recipe.

Then, in Feb, when warm zucchini bread sounds delicious, you grab bag, defrost and add it to your recipe. It's brilliant actually.

And while you are still overrun with zucchini, try Ratatouille!

Ratatouille
(inspired by Nessa at Family Soup)

¼ cup olive oil
1 lg onion
4 cloves garlic
2 med crookneck squash
2 med zucchini (this equals more than the crookneck)
Coarse salt and pepper
2 red bell peppers
5 small diced tomatoes
1 heaping Tbs fresh thyme, minced
½ cup (or more) chopped basil

Put olive oil in a pan and get it hot.
Add onion and garlic until starts to clear.
Stir in squash and peppers and season liberally with coarse salt and fresh ground pepper.
Add some water to it and let cook for about 5 minutes with lid off.
Add tomatoes and thyme.
Cook until squash and peppers are crisp tender, stirring occasionally.
Add the chopped basil JUST before serving.
Toss and serve.


Serves 4

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8 comments

Anonymous said...

That is how I freeze my zucchini too. I make bread out of mine and occassionally throw it in other recipes too!

aprilfoolwed said...

Thank you! I am going to grate mine right now!

Nessa said...

Oh! I'll have to freeze some too! What a great idea. Prep ahead of time is what I need to do more often. Hope you enjoyed the recipe! I plan on making that again soon.

:o) nessa

Val in the Rose Garden said...

I loved the recipe Nessa! I altered it to use more fresh ingredients and no eggplant (it doesn't go over in this house very well) but it is wonderful! I just had left overs for lunch. :) My aunt eats it over brown rice, or spelt pasta, but I just like it all veggies. What about you?

Val

Jenny said...

What a great idea! I think it's a better idea than freezing a whole loaf (& I hate to heat up the kitchen in the summer).

Brie said...

I wish I was overrun with zucchini! Someday I'll learn what it wants to grow here and not rot.

Anonymous said...

I don't know you at all, but I googled freezing zucchini and this came up. Thanks so much! You seem like a very busy woman!-Marcy from North Platte, Nebraska

Val in the Rose Garden said...

Thanks Marcy! I love having new people come and visit. :) This time of year I am very very busy.... but as things slow down, my passion for recycled crafts takes over and things settle down to a homeschool year. This time of year though, I pretty much live and breathe food. ;) Have a great day!

Val

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