So recently (actually quite a long while ago but I’m nothing if not a procrastinator), we had a 20 mile cookalong. I had Jennifer down to sample all the delights of the locality, but whilst we had a gap in the cooking time, we decided to have a wee stroll around the gardens. It just so happened that in the garden/field beside oour veg patch had quite the patch of rather green and young looking nettles. So I donned a pair of rubber gloves and with extreme care and absolutely no stings (woohoo) I gathered a bagful. Foraging within 100metres, great fun.
I used a recipe from one of my (if not my alltime) favourite books of the moment: Forgotten skills of cooking, by Darina Allen. If you don’t own this book, for the love of food go and get it. I’ve kindly linked you to Amazon in the title there!
Without further ado, this is what you need
-
45g butter
110g chopped onions
150g of potatoes, chopped and peeled
Salt and pepper
1litre of chicken stock
150g young nettles, which you should wash well and chop up
150mls full cream milk (we have the best milk in the north west, I swear!)
What to do:
The result is a startling green and amazingly fresh flavoured soup. I personally think a cube of feta crumbled over the top makes it rather beautiful!
In other news, at the request of people needing cute fix:
Kitteh can FLY
Kitteh can FLY!
'S'ok, I haz this'
‘S’ok, I haz this! Go ahead… Make mai day’
Cake in the country 
hmmm I have to say this is one soup I’ve always been curious about. My dad always mentioned it fondly when, as a kid, I would give out/whinge about getting stung by a nettle and wish them out of existence. As if one soup which I’ve never seen him so much as taste would make their existence okay. I think I might have to make him up a pot just to see the look on his face 🙂
I’ve always wondered though, how do you pick the leaves without getting stung and why doesn’t the soup sting as it’s eaten?
Thanks for the recipe
Hi George, how are you?
It’s a good way to get your own back on them! I wore rubber gloves to pick- the ones that you buy for theoretically washing the dishes (ahem), and was sting proof. Same goes for chopping. As far as I know (I think I read it somewhere), it’s histamine that stings and that gets boiled away. I’m now wondering if I should invest in topical antihistamine for nettle stings… Maybe they don’t bother me that much as I’m normally on them regularly for hayfever 🙂
That looks like the perfect summer soup! I’ve always shyed away from recipes with nettles in them, I’m always paranoid that I won’t have cooked them enough and they will sting my mouth!!! What makes them loose their sting-ability in the cooking pprocess? I’d love to give this a go!
Emma
Hi Emmyw,
As far as I know, what makes it sting is histamine, which is boiled away when you cook it. I vaguely recall reading it somewhere, but must check it out actually..Definitely wear thick gloves when picking though!
I got that cookbook earlier this year and I totally agree with you – it might just be my all-time favourite cookbook, the one I’d take to a desert island.
Kristin- It is the bee’s knees and cats pyjamas. I most certainly agree that it is theeee desert island book. Such perfectly lovely recipes, mixture of new and old, love it.
I have that book and love it, but of all the Allans my heart belongs to Myrtle.
Kitteh CAN fly – and you haz made mai day!
I have Myrtle’s Ballymaloe cookbook- really nice recipes – very traditional, stuff my Dad always talks about! Am glad your day haz been made, they’re too cute for words really. They grow up so fast though, sniffle..
Hi! I love your site! Nettles also lose their sting once they are dried… only fresh nettles can sting you. I read on another site that dock leaves can soothe the sting if you get one. And if you are lactose intolerant, the soup can also be made with water instead of the milk and thickened with flour. I dried my own nettles and am going to try making nettle soup from them.
Love the kitten too!
Thanks Lin,
Dock leave do soothe nettle stings, they usually grow near nettles too! Glad you like the site and the kitten 🙂