When life gives you nettles... make soup

I count myself relatively lucky in this strange spring. Sure, a combination of demands of work, plus the timing of the lockdown, mean that my husband is stuck an hour’s drive away so I haven’t seen him, except by Skype, in weeks – but at least I moved into a new house last November. Much more space than I had in the flat, a decent kitchen, and a garden that is basically a blank canvas. So this year was always going to be about watching and waiting – getting a sense of how the garden works, and what is already there. 

What I hadn’t expected – though maybe I should have, given that the previous owners were, by their own admission, not gardeners, and the gardens on both sides are fairly neglected – was nettles. Now, like most folk, I have a pretty jaundiced attitude towards nettles. One born of too many unpleasant encounters with their highly effective defences. So my first reaction was the obvious – get rid of them. 

Not a huge nettle patch (this was taken after harvesting), but adequate

But wait a minute. You can eat nettles, can’t you? I’m not averse to a bit of foraging, given the opportunity – which is why I’ve got a cupboard full of sloe gin, elderberry cordial and (rather sour) wild plum jam. There’s some elderberry wine maturing somewhere, too. It just tends to be fruity foraging, and often with alcoholic results. I’ve never really experimented with the savoury side of wild food.  

One possibly positive thing about the current situation, though, is that many of us have a bit more time to cook. And with working from home, I’m eating a lot more soup than I normally do. So you can make nettle soup, right? Loads of recipes online. Let’s give it a go. 

First pick your nettles. Wearing heavy gloves, obviously (washing up gloves will do fine). Just the tops – the fresher leaves – unless they are really young. I got about a colander full from my small patch. Maybe a couple of ounces, if you like to measure things. Most recipes suggest more than that – half a decent-sized carrier bag, is a fairly standard forager’s measure. But hey, this is confined kitchen. It’s all about thrift: making do with what you’ve got, substituting where needed… Wash them thoroughly (especially if your source of nettles is anywhere dogs are likely to have been), and discard the coarser stems. Remember to handle them with gloves on until boiled - that’s what neutralises the sting. 

Then prepare the rest of your veg. I used a decent-sized potato, half a leek, one onion, a couple of sticks of celery, a clove of garlic, and a stray carrot. I’d say the potato, plus at least one allium, are the essentials – otherwise, throw in what you’ve got. 

My mum would call this “what we’ve got soup”

Soften the onion (and anything else that seems like it should go in early) in butter or oil as you prefer. Then add the rest of the veg, including the nettles. Pour over a couple of pints of decent stock. I used a veg stockpot, since that’s what I had, but a stock cube would do fine. Or chicken stock, especially if you’re organised and make your own. 

Simmer gently until the veg are soft, then blend. Adjust seasoning if you think it needs it - salt, pepper, maybe a splash of lemon juice. Et voila! Lunch. I had it with a spoonful of crème fraiche (yogurt, soured cream or cream would do fine – or none of the above, if you don’t eat dairy), and some fresh walnut sourdough (the new bakery down the road isn’t really open yet, but they’re doing weekly pop-ups for pre-order - so that’s my bread supply sorted for the duration 🙂).

Nettle soup for lunch

Verdict – excellent. I think the nettle patch can stay. Keep cutting it back and it should provide new growth for a while yet. You could probably use other foraged greens as available - or even just spinach. A handful of ramsons (wild garlic) might be a nice addition in place of the leek & garlic, if you’re lucky enough to have them locally.

This quantity serves about 4, and makes a fairly light soup. Add more potato (or less stock) if you prefer your soup thicker. Enjoy experimenting!