recipes

I don’t know about you, but every spring I race against the weeds in my garden – if I don’t get to them before they seed they run riot!

But there is one weed I don’t mind – since I learnt to make nettle soup I look forward to their first silvery green shoots.

Don’t be put off by memories of childhood stings – cooked nettles taste amazing. They lose their sting but retain a zingy-ness and the resulting soup is so intensely green that you just know it is doing you good. And it is: nettles are a great tonic: packed full of iron, vitamin C. They also contain serotonin – the ‘happy hormone’- so eating nettle soup will make you healthy, happy and calm!

You will need gloves (I use my marigolds) and a plastic carrier – half a carrier full of leaves will make enough soup for 6. Young nettles or nettle tops are best as the leaves toughen up and stingers get stronger as the weeks go by.

Ingredients:

1/2 carrier bag full of young nettles leaves
A good knob of butter and a slug of olive oil
1 large onion, finely sliced
1 large potato, chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
1 celery stick, chopped
1 large garlic clove, crushed
1 litre good chicken or vegetable stock
1 tablespoon crème fraîche or natural yoghurt
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Wash nettles thoroughly and discard tough stalks (don’t worry too much as the soup will be liquidised).
Melt the butter and oil in a large pan and sweat the onion, potato, carrot, celery and garlic until soft but not brown. Add the stock and simmer for 10 minutes until the potato is soft.

Pile in the nettles (adding a little more stock if necessary) bring to the boil and simmer for 5–10 minutes, until the nettles are tender.

Purée the soup in a liquidiser (you might have to do this in 2 batches). Return to the pan, stir in the crème fraîche or natural yoghurt and reheat but do not let it boil.

Season with salt and pepper – and if you’re trying to impress, add a swirl of cream and a pinch of nutmeg to serve. Enjoy.