Recipes for harvesting grape leaves for the winter, pickling, salting, and freezing

Eastern cuisine features an interesting and unusual dish—grape leaf dolma. It captivates with its flavor and aroma. It's made with fresh grape leaves, meat, and boiled rice.

To delight yourself and your family with a delicious dish during the winter, we suggest considering ways to preserve grape leaves for the winter.

Peculiarities of harvesting grape leaves for the winter

To obtain tasty and healthy preserves, you need to familiarize yourself with some recommendations:

1. You can freeze it fresh. Keep in mind that the plant-based ingredient may break when defrosting. In this case, be extremely careful.
2. Stack the items in ascending order, from smallest to largest. It's recommended to stack the bottom item larger than the others.
3. The product must be sorted when fresh, but never when boiled.
4. To save space in the refrigerator or in a jar, the leaves can be rolled into a roll.

There are several options for preserving grape greens for the winter. The method will vary depending on the preservation method and the shelf life of the ingredient.

Selecting and preparing grape leaves

Harvesting takes place when the vines begin to bloom. White varieties are recommended for canning. They have a sweet and sour flavor, which adds a subtle piquancy to dishes. When using red grapes, it is important to remember the uneven surface and rigidity of the plant.

For preservation, it is recommended to take young leaves, cutting them yourself from the vine.

Damaged or torn pieces are unsuitable for harvesting. Use straight, whole, and uniform-sized pieces.

Methods for harvesting grape greens at home

Leaves grapes contain the maximum amount of vitamins, micro- and macronutrients. The product's caloric content is 94 kcal per 100 grams. To preserve all the beneficial components, you need to know how to properly prepare this plant-based ingredient.

Freezing

Freezing is convenient and practical. How to freeze grape greens:

• Wash freshly cut leaves, remove the stalks, place on a clean towel and dry.
• The plant ingredients must be completely dry. Otherwise, the liquid will make them more brittle when they freeze.
• Spread plastic wrap on the table. Place several leaves on top of each other. The stack should be up to 15 leaves high. It's important that they are all the same size.

• Roll the dough tightly into a roll, wrapping it in plastic wrap. Carefully fold the edges of the plastic wrap over the dough. Place in a disposable freezer bag.
• Place in the freezer, first turning on the quick freeze mode for half an hour.

It is recommended to allocate a separate chamber for storage so that other products cannot damage the fragile leaves.

Pickling

For lovers of pickled snacks, we offer step-by-step instructions on how to pickle grape greens at home:

• leaves;
• clean water - 2 l;
• salt without additives, rock salt - 60 g;
• granulated sugar - 50 g;
• table vinegar - 80-100 ml.

Wash the main ingredient. Carefully cut off the large stalk. Place it on a clean towel and dry. Then make stacks of 10-14 stalks each and carefully roll them into a tight roll.

To preserve the mixture for a long time, wash the glass jars with soap and dry them in the oven. Boil the lids thoroughly. Line the prepared rolls with leaves tightly.

Bring clean water to a boil in a separate saucepan. Fill the jars with grape greens. Cover and let sit for 10 minutes. Repeat this process twice.

Meanwhile, let's prepare the marinade. Combine the water, salt, and granulated sugar in an enamel bowl. Place over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring regularly. Simmer for 2-3 minutes, remove from the heat, and pour in the vinegar.

Pour the prepared, delicious marinade over the prepared leaves. Roll them up tightly and turn them over. Once completely cool, store in a cool, dark place.

Salting in jars

This preparation method doesn't require fermentation. Simply prepare the main ingredient and make a brine. Mustard is added to enhance the flavor. Let's look at how to preserve grape greens with a piquant flavor:

• leaves - 30 pcs.;
• mustard (powder) - 0.5 tsp;
• black peppercorns - 1 pc.;
• table salt - 1 tsp.

Sort, rinse, and dry the grape greens. Stack them in piles of 10 and roll them into rolls. Place them in prepared glass jars.

Fill them with boiling water and let them steep for 10 minutes. Drain the liquid. Add salt, mustard, and peppercorns to the jar. Pour boiling water over them and immediately seal the jar tightly. Turn the jar upside down and cool under a warm blanket. Store in a cool place.

Dry canning

You can preserve grape leaves using a simple and popular dry method. Therefore, there's no need to roll them.

Place the prepared leaves in sterile jars, salting each layer.

Cover with lids, place on a baking sheet, and place in the oven. Sterilize at 100 degrees Celsius for 8-12 minutes. Seal tightly. Turn over and let cool.

Preservation by dry salting

For those who don't have time to bother with the hot salting method, we suggest looking into a recipe for cooking in a plastic bottle.

• table salt - 60 g;
• leaves - 100 pcs.

For canning, select young, whole, and dry leaves. There's no need to wash them after picking. The fermenting compound that coats the surface allows for canning without the need for brine.

Place the prepared ingredients in neat stacks of 8-12 pieces. Roll them into a roll and carefully place them in a clean plastic bottle. The less air and space between the rolls, the better.

Pour the specified amount of salt into the container. This will create a salt seal. Close the bottle and store it in a cool place.

To extract the product, if necessary, you need to carefully cut the bottle, remove the leaves and wash.

Storage

Store the prepared preserves in any cool, dark place. This could be a cellar, basement, or pantry. Do not refreeze thawed leaves.