Try a New Vegetable: Stinging Nettles

For the past month I've been heading out to the farmers' market on each Thursday with no clear notion of what I'm going to make for dinner. The idea is to just go with whatever is on offer that day. It gets more interesting each week as more farmers are in attendance with an ever increasing variety of produce. This week I got spring garlic, wild leeks, rhubarb, baby lettuce, arugula, pea shoots, garlic mustard leaves and the find of the week, stinging nettles. Imagine the look on my husband's face when I told him I was serving stinging nettles for dinner. I enjoyed it immensely.

The man who was selling the nettles handled it, but everything I've read says that simply touching the nettles can prove quite painful. The leaves are covered with a very fine series of prickles and it if I came across it in the forest I certainly wouldn't touch it. I decided to be cautious and used a pair of rubber gloves while I handled it. The smell of it was very reminiscent of a walk in the woods and the taste was delicate and a bit on the nutty side. You can apparently use it to make tea by just putting a large handful into a tea pot and adding boiling water.

I decided to make soup with it and came across this very simple recipe. I used little spring potatoes from the market rather than russets and I used my wild leeks which imparts a more subtle flavour than regular leeks. Next time I would make it with stock rather than water, just to give a bit more depth of flavour. I also added a couple of squeezes of lemon juice to this soup recipe. You could garnish it with lemon slices or perhaps some pine nuts. I wouldn't bother putting it through a strainer unless I were serving it at a dinner party.

Nettle Soup

1. In small pan, add the butter and sweat leeks until soft. Add potato and water, and cook until soft (falling apart).  Add cream. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

2. Blanch the raw nettles (leaf and thin stems only) until tender.  Combine potato soup and cooked nettles. Use blender or immersion blender to puree and pass through a strainer. Add cream and season to taste with salt and pepper. Heat through and thin with water or cream if necessary.

Adapted from a recipe on The Kitchn

Difficulty Level: Easy

CLOSE X

• del.icio.us
• Newsvine
• Reddit