The Best Nettle Soup
“Only the pure in heart can make good soup” - Beethoven
Have you tried to make nettle soup before and it’s way too bitter? Well this recipe combats that by using a steamed method of cooking the nettles to give them a lovely light, warming flavour to add to your soup!
Nettle Soup
(You may wish to use gloves when handling the raw nettle but once cooked the gloves wont be needed).
Ingredients
200g Nettle
1 leek
3 cloves garlic
2 potatoes
250ml milk of your choice
1 litre vegetable stock
Maple syrup
Olive oil
Lemon
Salt and pepper
Paprika (optional)
Method
Chop up the leek and place in an oven-proof dish. Drizzle over a little maple syrup, olive oil and a pinch of salt. Bake in the oven on 180C for 30-40 minutes till the leeks are turning golden brown. Add the garlic cloves, mix and bake for a further 10-15 minutes.
While the leeks are baking, peel and chop the potatoes. Add them to a large pot and boil till soft in the vegetable stock.
Steam the nettle for roughly 5 minutes. (I do this over the same pan the potatoes are boiling in) Place the steamed nettle in a sieve and run cold water over it for a few seconds. Using your hands, squeeze out all the moisture from the nettles - this makes the nettle significantly less bitter. Place the nettle in a dish and squeeze the lemon over it with a drizzle of olive oil and let infuse for a few minutes.
Add the baked leeks to the pot with the potatoes and vegetable stock. Use a dash of milk in the oven dish to loosen all the flavours and add that to the pan too. Simmer for 10 minutes till its smelling lovely and fragrant.
Add the nettle mixture to the soup and blend till smooth. Tase the soup and add any salt or pepper if needed you can add the paprika now if using.
Enjoy!