This month I got adventurous in the kitchen and decided to have a go using the bumper crop of stinging nettles (Urtica urens) that had appeared in my neglected vegetable garden. I would normally toss them when weeding, but they were in such abundance it seemed wasteful not to use them.
You need thick gloves and long sleeves when picking nettles — do not forgo the long sleeves! The tiny hairs are impossible to avoid. The fact that stinging nettles can be turned from a painful irritant into a delicious soup boggles my mind. And hats off to whoever took the chance that cooking the nettles would neutralise the sting, I wouldn’t have put my hand up for the job!
Nettles are high in iron, magnesium, and nitrogen and can be used in a similar manner to spinach, although they have an earthier flavour and slightly peppery, like rocket.
INGREDIENTS
• 300 g nettle shoots, stalks and stems removed
• 300 g potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 2 onions (or 1 onion & 1 leek), chopped
• 2 sticks of celery
• 1 clove garlic (optional)
• 1 tsp each olive oil and butter
• 1 litre chicken stock
• 150 ml thick fresh cream
• Salt and fresh cracked black pepper to taste
METHOD
• In a medium sized pot, heat oil, add onions/leek and celery and saute gently for 5 – 6 minutes.
• Add nettles, potatoes and water/stock. Bring to the boil, then let simmer for 20 minutes.
• When potatoes are soft, blitz with a stick blender, then add cream and stir through. Season to taste.
Did you know?
• Nettle has been used to make fabrics, including burial shrouds – one unearthed in Denmark was traced back to the Bronze Age.
• Urtification, the act of flogging oneself or another person with fresh nettle to irritate the skin and stimulate blood flow, has been used by many cultures for thousands of years to treat everything from arthritis to comas.
• 16th-century herbalist John Gerard recommended the plant as an antidote to poison.
