Zucchini Season   

It’s that zucchini time of year! Zucchini plants are bursting and people are wondering just what to do with their zucchini, or maybe you see them at the market, and you’re just not certain how to save these fresh summer bites for cold winter months.

Have you considered freezing zucchini? Here are a few tips and ideas so that you can have this summer squash on hand to pull out and use all winter long when it’s not zucchini season.

These freezing steps do not require blanching, which is great! We all love when we can actually skip a step (wink).

Zucchini Noodles (zoodles): Cut off each end of the zucchini, rinse, dry and make your zucchini noddles with a vegetable spiralizer.  Spread out the zucchini noodles on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and freeze them. Once they are frozen, place them in a freezer storage bag or container and keep frozen until ready to use.

Sliced Zucchini:  Cut off each end of the zucchini, rinse, dry and slice.  Freeze and store the same way as the zucchini noodles (see above).

Shredded Zucchini: Cut off each end of the zucchini, rinse, dry and shred. Place the shredded zucchini into a clean towel or cheese cloth and squeeze out as much of the excess water as possible.  Place the shredded zucchini in a freezer bag and freeze.  Personally, I like to label and measure shredded zucchini before freezing based on what I will be using the it to make.  A good example would be making chocolate zucchini muffins.

Par Roasting: This is my favorite way to freeze zucchini!  I prep my vegetable mix (zucchini, peppers, onions, eggplant, etc.) Toss them in a very light coating of olive oil, season and place them on a parchment covered baking sheet and roast them in an oven of 375 degrees for 20 minutes.  I let them cool completely, place them in a labeled storage container and when I’m ready to use them, I simply place them back onto a baking sheet, put then back into a 375 degree oven for an additional 20 to 25 minutes.

Zucchini are inherently watery so often you should add your frozen zucchini directly to any recipe without thawing first to cook; soup, sauté, sauce, etc. 

Here’s a fun, or not so fun, zucchini fact:  We often think of a zucchini as a vegetable, but botanically it’s classified as a fruit. Whatever it is, vegetable or fruit, you can enjoy them year round fresh out of the garden, from the farmers’ market and hopefully your freezer.

The Saratoga Farmer’s Market is open on Wednesdays from 3- 6 p.m. and  Saturdays from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. at High Rock Park in downtown Saratoga Springs. The Monday market at Clifton Park is open from 2-5 p.m. at the Shenendehowa Methodist Church on Route 146. The Thursday Market at Milton begins Thursday, July 11th, through August 29th at the Burgess Kimball Memorial Park from 3-6 p.m. Find us online at www.saratogafarmersmarket.org, where you can sign up for our weekly newsletter, and follow us on Facebook and Instagram @SaratogaFarmersMarket.