Carrot puree for the winter
A simple, wholesome homemade carrot base put up for the winter! Ready-made carrot puree is a great base for all sorts of dishes. You can stir in sour cream, sweeten it to taste, and serve it on its own, or use it in soups, mains, desserts, and baking. Carrot puree is also one of the first solid foods introduced to babies under a year old. At the store this baby food isn't cheap, but you can make it at home with no preservatives, unlike the factory product.
Cooking method
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Step 1:
Gather the ingredients for carrot puree for the winter — nothing's needed but the carrots themselves. You'll end up with a totally natural, wholesome product. Beyond how simple and quick it is, another plus of this preserve is how cheap it is: in harvest season this puree costs next to nothing. It's a boon for anyone who doesn't have room to store a lot of homegrown vegetables. Use juicy young carrots if you can.
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Step 2:
Wash, peel, and cut the carrots into small pieces so they cook faster and keep more of their vitamins, since long cooking drives a lot of the vitamins off. Put the carrots in a pot and cover them right away with boiling or hot water. If you cook carrots in cold water, more of their flavor and color leaches into the cooking liquid, which we won't be using here.
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Step 3:
Turn on the heat, bring the water to a boil, lower it to medium, and cook until the carrots are done. Check with the tip of a knife — if it slides in easily, the carrots are cooked. Turn off the heat.
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Step 4:
Drain the cooking liquid from the pot. Let the carrots cool a little.
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Step 5:
Puree them with a blender, working it until smooth and even, with no lumps or whole pieces of carrot.
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Step 6:
Wash, sterilize, and dry small jars and lids ahead of time. Wash the jars with a baking-soda solution and sterilize them in the oven, in a water bath, or in the microwave. Boil and dry the lids. Spoon the finished carrot puree into the jars, set the lids on top, and sterilize them: line the bottom of a pot with a cloth, set in the jars, and add water up to their shoulders. Sterilize over medium heat — about 15 minutes for pint (0.5 l) jars.
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Step 7:
Seal the jars with the lids. Let the jars of carrot puree cool at room temperature under a blanket, then store them in a cold place. The carrot puree is ready for the winter. Enjoy!
Caloric content of the products possible in the composition of the dish
- Carrots - 33 kcal/100g
- Dried carrots - 275 kcal/100g
- Boiled carrots - 25 kcal/100g
