Can you Freeze Endive
Endive is a vegetable that is prepared in many Dutch kitchens. It is a versatile vegetable that has a slightly bitter taste. You can cook, stir-fry, stir-fry and eat the endive raw. And of course, you can make a delicious stew with it. But can you freeze Endive?
Freeze endive. Remove the bad leaves and cut the endive into strips. Wash the endive under the tap. Blanch the endive for 1 minute. Now you can freeze it for 6 months. Unblanched endive has a shelf life of 3 months. Cooked endive has a shelf life of 3 months.
There is curly endive and leaf endive. Curl endive has a slightly more bitter taste and is usually used in a salad. Leaf endive is often used for cooking. In addition to freezing, you can store endive in several other ways. Read our blog about storing endive for this. If you want to prepare endive in a different way than cooking or making stew, read our blog about stir-frying endive.
Can You Freeze Endive?
Endive can be stored in many ways and one of those ways is freezing. There are a number of things you should take into account and there are different ways to freeze endive. Is it raw, fresh endive or cooked. Blanch first or rather not.
The method of freezing endive therefore depends on what type of endive you have. The methods are discussed below.
Freeze Raw Endive
You can freeze raw endive. It is a vegetable that you can keep frozen for a long time. Endive grows in the fields on the bottom. So there is a lot of sand in the endive. By the way, not only sand but also small insects and sometimes snails. So preparation is needed before you can freeze raw endive.
First, remove the bad leaves that are brown in color and the leaves that are limp. You throw this one away. Then cut the endive into strips. How the bottom of the endive on the left or right side and then cut the strips in the width direction.
Meanwhile, fill your sink with cold water. Put the sliced endive in the water and turn it a few times with your hands. Now let it rest for 2 minutes, because this way all the sand and other dirt will sink to the bottom. Remove the endive from the water and let it drain in a colander.
There are now two options that you can do, namely blanch endive first and then freeze or freeze endive without blanching. Both ways are explained below.
Endive Blanching Freezing
Blanching is cooking a vegetable briefly and then cooling it quickly with cold water to stop further cooking. Blanching kills bacteria and preserves flavour, color and texture. Blanching endives and freezing has therefore advantages. It’s a little more work, but it’s the best method in the end.
- Place a pan with plenty of water on the heat source and bring to the boil.
- Prepare a second pan with ice (cold) water or place your colander in the sink.
- When the water boils, the washed and sliced endive goes into the pan.
- Now cook the endive for 1 minute. If you have a lot of endive, blanch the endive in parts.
- Drain the endive in the colander and rinse under the cold tap or toss the endive into the pan of ice water.
Now it’s blanched endive. Drain the endive well and pat dry with kitchen paper if necessary.
Now make portions of the endive, about 225 grams per person and put the endive in freezer containers or freezer bags. Mark the date on the package and place the endive in the freezer. You can now keep it for about 6 months.
Endive Freezing Without Blanching
It can also be frozen without blanching. It’s all a bit easier to do, but certainly not the best way. The endive can change in color and texture and the taste is also lost when frozen for a long time.
Place the washed and sliced endive in the freezer containers or freezer bags and mark the date on the packaging. Then put the endive in the freezer. Do not keep it longer than 3 months now.
When you want to eat it or prepare it in a dish, look carefully to see if it still looks nice and smell if it is not spoiled.
Sliced Endive Freezing
You can also freeze sliced endive. I do not mean a head of endive that has been washed and cut, because that is described above. No, I mean sliced endive that you buy ready-made in the supermarket and that are in the refrigerated shelf.
The same applies to this endive as a head of raw endive. It is best to blanch the endive before it is frozen. This is described above.
Freezing without blanching is also possible, but this is not the best way for endive. However, this is also described above.
Cooked Endive Freezing
If you have cooked endive and you have any leftover endive, you can store it in a sealed container in the refrigerator for 2 days. Freezing cooked endive is also an option if you want to store it for a longer period of time. All you have to do is toss the endive into a freezer container or freezer bag, put the date on the package and put the endive in the freezer. It now has a shelf life of 3 months.
Endive Freezing And Reheating
Cooked endive that has been frozen can simply be warmed up in a pan. Better and faster is to use the microwave. In the past it was believed that you could not heat endive because of nitrates that are poisonous. However, it is now believed that heating endive poses no health risk.
Unblanched endive can be thawed on a plate in the refrigerator or on your kitchen counter. Once the endive has thawed, look, smell and taste a piece of endive to determine if it is good.
You do not have to thaw blanched endive. This can go straight from the freezer into the pan or wok.
The frozen endive can only be used in warm dishes. The leaves have become limp and this does not look fresh in a salad. However, the taste is still fine and once prepared you can no longer see the leaves.
For a salad, use fresh, not frozen endive.
