If you’re a fan of salads, you may be interested to know how you can freeze them – either to save wasting them, to prepare in advance for a dinner party, or to use up a glut from the garden. The good news is that you can freeze your favourite arugula quickly and easily.
What is Arugula
This exotic sounding name is actually the official term for that spicy salad addition, Rocket.
This tasty leaf, as well as being beloved by chefs and foodies everywhere, is also very good for you – it contains high levels of beneficial Nitrates, which have been shown to enhance athletic performance and reduce blood pressure.
Peppery rocket has also been shown to reduce the risk of cancer, improve heart health, reduce the risk of Type 2 diabetes, and help prevent osteoporosis.
These are all great reasons to get munching that salad!
Arugula uses
Arugula is most commonly found in salads, but it has a host of other uses too. You can use it as a pizza topping; as the basis for a type of pesto; to flavour oils; stirred through pasta – anything that you can do with another vegetable, you can do with arugula.
The plant has been around and has been included in our diets for many, many years – there are even records of its use as an aphrodisiac tonic since the first century.
We cannot guarantee that it will work as an aphrodisiac, but all its other benefits are scientifically backed!
How to freeze Arulgula
Some salad leaves do not respond well to being frozen, and will slide out of the freezer into a puddle of mush. Arugula copes quite well with being frozen, as long as you follow a few simple steps:
- Blanch the leaves by placing them into boiling water for 30 seconds, then plunging them into iced water.
- Drain the leaves, then blot them dry with kitchen towel.
- Pack them carefully into freezer bags, being careful not to fold or mash the leaves.
- Place the bag into the freezer, and use within three months to avoid the leaves getting freezer burn or the flavour changing.
There are other ways to freeze arugula which some find easier:
- Puree the arugula with water, by placing it in a pan with a little water and heating until it forms a paste.
- Pour the paste into ice cube trays, then either leave them in the trays or remove them once they are frozen and store them in bags or a plastic tub.
- Place these in the deepest part of the freezer so they remain deeply frozen.
- Freeze it with olive oil, by chopping the arugula finely then placing it into ice cube trays, and topping with olive oil.
- You can also simply place the entire, unblanched plant into the freezer if you run out of time for the other methods – this won’t work as well as some of the more involved instructions, but this hardy little plant will cope with it.
Uses for frozen Arugula
If you have simply frozen the blanched leaves, you can thaw them out and use them in the same way as you would use the fresh variety – in salads, tossed through pasta, or just as a tasty leaf to nibble on.
If you freeze them as puree, they make a great base for a really delicious pasta sauce.
By freezing them in olive oil, you can easily sautee them up with other vegetables, pour the cube into a salad dressing, or drizzle it over a pizza.
If you have simply frozen the leaves without blanching, you can grate the frozen product straight into whatever you’re making.
Read also: Can You Freeze A Cheese Ball?
Final words
The taste of arugula alone should make you want to go running off to your nearest stockist. The health benefits of it are a great added bonus!
If you have too much arugula from the garden that you cannot use before it goes off, or you’ve accidentally bought too much, or if you just want to find different ways of storing this delicious herb, then try one of the above methods for freezing it – you should be pleasantly surprised at how easy and convenient it is.
