Seasonal Recipe Box: Spring

Stinging Nettles 101

Tips for handling nettles:

• Don't touch fresh nettles with your bare hands. Use tongs or a large fork to move them.
• Cook nettles until 'soggy' or completely wilted before eating. A quick sauté is not sufficient to de-activate the sting. If making nettle tea, be sure to strain nettles out and don't eat the leaves unless they've been thoroughly cooked.
• If picking wild nettles for eating, harvest only the top four inches of the plant.
• You may want to remove thick stems from nettle tops before cooking.
• Nettles combine well with less 'green' tasting greens such as chard, spinach, kale, collards in such dishes as spanakopita, baked pastas, quiche, omelettes, & frittatas
• Sorrel and nettles combine nicely for a lemony-green flavor

Spring Tonic Nettle Soup

Ingredients:

• 3 Tablespoons butter or olive oil
• 2 leeks, cut into rounds
• 1/2 pound wild nettle tops (for handling tips, see Stinging Nettles 101)
• 1 quart filtered water
• 1 bouquet garni (little bundle of herbs tied with a string) containing any or all of these: a bay leaf, sprigs of thyme, parsley stems, and sage leaves
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup crème fraiche, sweet cream, or half and half, or to taste
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Nutmeg to taste

Procedure:

1. Sauté leeks in butter or olive oil. Add water and bring to a boil.
2. Add nettles (being careful not to touch them with your bare hands!), bay leaf and water.
3. Cover, bring to a boil, and simmer until the nettles are very soft.
4. Meanwhile, in a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and the cream, crème fraiche or half and half.
5. Remove the bouquet garni from the soup, turn the heat to low, and puree using an immersion blender, adding a generous pinch of salt and a grind of pepper.
6. Take a ladleful of soup and stir it into the egg mixture.
7. Return the egg-nettle mixture to the soup and stir gently over very low heat (do not let it boil again)
8. Grate some fresh nutmeg into the soup, taste and add more salt as necessary to make it savory and delicious

Notes:

I like to serve this with a dollop of crème fraiche and a little fresh ground pepper and nutmeg on top.

Variation: add sorrel leaves towards end of cooking for a lemony soup.
Other possible garnishes: scallions, lovage, dill, chives, fresh mint, edible flowers

Nettle tea

Pour boiling water over fresh (or dried) nettles. Steep, strain, enjoy.
OR
Bring water and nettles to a boil. Simmer for a couple of minutes. Remove from heat. Strain, enjoy.