How to savour summer: Preserving green beans for winter delights

Green beans are the delicious taste of summer. When they appear in stores, and their prices stop being terrifying, they almost daily appear on my table. Taking advantage of the season, it's worth stocking up and preparing jars for the winter.

You won't have to go without when you crave delicious, crunchy green beans in winter. Just use the vegetable bounty of summer and can this delicious vegetable treasure. Our grandmothers did it, our mothers did it, so today, it's worth using one of the best methods of food preservation.

Green beans are most often served with breadcrumbs and butter, and Poles love this version. In winter, buying green beans is often impossible, and when they do appear in stores, the price can make your heart skip a beat. The solution then is simple – canning.

Homemade canned green beans are a quick rescue for a winter dinner. Just open the jar, heat it, and it's ready. They quickly satisfy the craving for green beans and add some variety to the vegetable-poor periods of autumn and winter.

Ingredients:

• About 1 kilogram of green beans,
• About 1 litre water,
• 1 teaspoon pickling salt,
• 1 teaspoon sugar.

Instructions:

1. Thoroughly wash the green beans and trim the ends. If the beans have strings, remove them.
2. Place the beans in a pot and boil for about 5 minutes.
3. Drain the beans and arrange them in clean and sterilised jars.
4. In a pot, boil the water with salt and sugar.
5. Pour the hot brine over the beans in the jars until complete. The beans should be covered entirely.
6. Screw the jars tight.
7. Place the jars in a pot with water (the water level should reach 2/3 of the height of the jars).
8. Bring the water to a boil and pasteurise the beans for about 40 minutes (on low heat).
9. After the pasteurisation, remove the jars from the pot and set them upside down on a clean cloth. Allow to cool.
10. The next day, repeat the pasteurisation process by boiling the jars in water for 30-40 minutes (on low heat).

Once cooled, put the jars on a shelf with preserves in a cool place. You'll thank yourself for this in autumn and winter!