How to prepare different types of celery for the winter: the best methods and proven recipes

Celery is a popular herbaceous plant of the Apiaceae family, which has a bright spicy taste and aroma. Its beneficial properties for strengthening the immune system, maintaining men's health, and also for normalizing metabolic processes are widely known. But this plant is most widely used as a universal seasoning for meat and vegetable dishes.

To ensure that vitamin-rich and savory celery is on the table all year round, try different ways of preparing it for the winter.

Types of celery

Distinguish three types of celery:

1. Root - a plant with a fragrant, fleshy, tender root crop. Often used in cooking.
2. Chereshkovy - a plant with a succulent stem. It is best suited for various preparations - both pickled, frozen and dried, as well as as part of salads and vegetable mixtures.
3. Sheet – a type of herb for use as fresh herbs and salad dressing.

All types of celery are suitable for homemade preparations in a variety of ways.

Selection and preparation of celery

There are several general rules for preparing a spicy plant for winter storage.:

1. Root celery is removed from the ground carefully, without causing damage, carefully shaking off the root crops from soil residues. For storage, use only smooth, healthy, defect-free roots.
2. To store fresh whole stalked celery, wash it, remove all unnecessary or damaged parts, leave the thin upper peel of the stems, and cut off the roughened ones. For storage in crushed form, its cuttings are completely cleaned and chopped.
3. Before storage, leaf celery is thoroughly washed, sorted, spoiled fragments are removed and dried. After this, they are stored in the refrigerator or frozen.

Canning celery does not require special preparation. except for washing with water, peeling and grinding.

How to prepare celery

The root variety of the plant is not afraid of frost, therefore it is harvested in late autumn, carefully removing it from the ground and placing it for storage in the cellar.

Leaf celery cut, washed, carefully sorted. After this, the plant is collected in bunches and placed for drying in places without access to the sun. Then chop and place the dried herbs in storage containers. You can also chop fresh leafy greens first and lay them out to dry, then store the dried herbs in jars, bags or containers.

Petiole view harvested in early autumn, when the stems are most saturated with nutritious juice and beneficial substances. They are cut, washed, damaged parts are removed, and then dried, frozen, or made into blanks.

Methods for preparing celery

Freezing as a way to preserve an aromatic plant, suitable for all its varieties. Chopped or whole parts are placed in containers, bags or wrapped in film and placed in the freezer. This way the plant retains its taste and nutritional properties for up to 12 months. It is used in salad and vegetable dishes, as a seasoning for soups and meat products.

Drying is used for all varieties of celery. The greens, stems or roots are chopped and laid out to dry naturally on paper or wooden surfaces, or on a baking sheet or wire rack and placed in an oven preheated to 40°C for 3-4 hours (root up to 6 hours).

Store this seasoning in dry places in glass, plastic or metal containers., sometimes in fabric bags or bags. The shelf life of celery prepared this way is from 12 to 18 months. The taste of the dried herb is slightly different from the aroma of fresh or frozen herbs.

Dry salting - this method of preserving celery is more suitable for leaves. The chopped greens are mixed with salt (1 tbsp salt per 1 kg of leaves) and placed tightly in jars for storage in the refrigerator or cellar. This preparation is used as a seasoning for hot dishes.

Important. The shelf life of pickled seasoning is no more than 2-3 months.

The best preparation recipes

In addition to these methods, celery can be preserved in jars for the winter. Below we will look at several popular recipes.

Classic pickled celery

The stems and root parts of the plant are suitable for pickling.. Ingredients: 1 kg of fresh celery, 1 tbsp. l. sugar, 2 tsp. salt, 25 g coriander, 0.5 tbsp. vegetable oil, 0.5 tbsp. vinegar, 0.5 tbsp. soy sauce, red pepper to taste.

Preparation:

1. Celery stalks and roots are peeled, chopped or grated and the juice is squeezed out.
2. The oil is heated and salt, sugar and spices are added. When bubbles appear, add vinegar and soy sauce.
3. The prepared marinade is poured over chopped celery and left for 12 hours, then put into jars and rolled up.

For leaves, use a slightly modified version of the recipe.. For it you will need: 1 kg of spicy herbs, 1 head of garlic, 1 pod of hot pepper, 2 onions, 500 ml of water, 60 g of sugar, 30 g of salt, 100 ml of vinegar, seasonings to taste.

1. Celery, peppers and onions are cut into pieces. Then peeled garlic and seasonings are placed on the bottom of the jar, and chopped vegetables are placed on top of them.
2. Bring the water in the pan to a boil, fill the jars with the product and leave for half an hour.
3. Drain the water back, add salt and sugar and cook for about 2 minutes. At the end, add vinegar.
4. The resulting marinade is filled into jars with vegetables and rolled up.

To clean celery First, the part connecting all the stems is cut off, and then the hard veins are removed from each petiole.

Celery with cucumbers and carrots

This is an original way to prepare an aromatic plant at home in the form of a salad mixture with other vegetables.

For this recipe you will need:

• 1 kg fresh celery stalks;
• 800 g carrots;
• 500 g fresh cucumbers;
• 1.5 tbsp. water;
• 0.5 tbsp. vinegar;
• salt and sugar - 1 tsp each;
• 2-3 branches of dill, parsley and cloves - to taste.

Preparation:

1. The washed celery stalks are peeled and chopped into small pieces. Cucumbers are cut into thin slices, and carrots are chopped into strips. Sterilized jars are filled with these ingredients.
2. Add sugar, salt, seasonings and vinegar to a saucepan of water and bring to a boil.
3. Pour the hot marinade into jars of prepared vegetables, cover them and leave to steep for 24 hours.

Celery with cabbage

Components:

• 1-1.5 kg of cabbage;
• 2 carrots;
• 200-300 g celery;
• 5-6 bay leaves;
• 1 tsp. coriander grains or dill seeds;
• 2 tbsp. l. salt;
• 10 black peppercorns.

Cooking algorithm:

1. Shred and mash the cabbage. Peel the carrots and celery and grate them.Mix everything and add crushed coriander.
2. Place the vegetable mixture in prepared jars, alternating layers with bay leaves and peppercorns.
3. Dissolve salt in 1 liter of water at room temperature, pour the brine into jars, close and put in a warm place for two days.
4. Twice a day, pierce the vegetables with a knife in several places to allow air to escape and complete fermentation.
5. After two days, the vegetables are ready and put away for storage.

Celery in tomato sauce

This winter preparation has a rich, piquant taste.

To prepare it you need:

• 1 kg fresh celery stalks;
• 2 kg of fresh tomatoes;
• 1 tbsp. l. vinegar;
• 0.5 tbsp. l. salt;
• 2 tbsp. l. Sahara;
• 2 tbsp. l. vegetable oil;
• a small pod of hot pepper;
• some greens - dill, parsley, celery leaves.

Preparation:

1. The entire quantity of tomatoes is turned through a meat grinder or crushed in a blender.
2. The resulting tomato mass is boiled for 60 minutes. Finely chopped hot peppers, sugar, salt and butter are then added to the puree and cooked for another 15 minutes.
3. Chopped celery stalks are placed in the prepared mixture and left to cook for about 30 minutes.
4. At the end, chopped greens are added to the vegetable mass and seasoned with vinegar. The workpiece is placed in jars and rolled up.

Celery juice

All parts of the plant are suitable for extracting juice.. There are two options for squeezing - using a juicer or pressing the grated celery with your hands through cheesecloth. Freshly squeezed juice has the greatest value and benefits. But you can prepare it for the winter. The juice is frozen in ice cube trays, and in winter the cubes are used to make smoothies or juice mixtures.

Reference. It is recommended to add 15 g of olive oil to a glass of celery juice before drinking or dilute it with fruit juices.

Marinating celery in honey and oil sauce

Required Ingredients:

• 1 kg fresh celery stalks;
• 2 medium heads of garlic;
• 100 ml lemon juice;
• 20 ml olive oil;
• 20 g honey;
• 20 ml vinegar;
• 2 tsp. sesame seeds;
• 100 g parsley;
• 1 PC. anise;
• salt and ground red pepper to taste.

Preparation:

1. Celery stalks are peeled and cut into pieces, chopped parsley and garlic are added, as well as sesame seeds, salt, and spices.
2. The vegetable mixture is placed in sterilized jars.
3. In a separate bowl, mix oil, honey, lemon juice and vinegar. Pour this marinade over vegetables in jars and roll up.

Winter storage of celery

There are several ways to preserve herbs during the winter.so that all its parts do not lose their beneficial and taste properties: freezing, dry mixture with salt and drying.

Chopped celery greens mixed with salt and placed in containers for storage in the refrigerator. This mixture preserves all the vitamins and microelements of the plant.

Celery root can be stored for a month in the refrigerator, if you wrap it in film or put it in a bag. For longer storage, fresh plant roots are placed in a cellar or basement, placed in sand-filled boxes or covered with polyethylene with small holes. In this form, root crops can be stored on balconies or loggias. For long-term storage, they are sorted, selecting even and smooth specimens without defects or cracks.

Store stems and leafy greens in the refrigerator, wrapped in foil or in special containers. These parts of the plant are pre-washed and dried.You can also freeze chopped celery in ice cube trays with a little water.

The root part can also be stored in refrigerator, washed and dried. Or grind the roots using a grater or blender, place them in freezer containers and put them in the freezer.

Important. Celery wrapped in foil in the refrigerator retains its original appearance for 10 days, and in the film it begins to wither on the third day.

Conclusion

There are many ways to harvest and store celery in winter. You can choose the most convenient and effective one, or use several methods at once and use this spicy and healthy seasoning in your home diet all year round.