Nettle Soup Recipe

Spring is here! So get your gloves on to forage for wild plants like nettles!

Stinging nettles may not spring to mind as being particularly good for you, particularly should you stumble through a patch barefoot. But when foraged and cooked just right they are an incredible superfood.

Packed with nutrition and flavour, nettles have high quantities of iron, calcium, vitamin A and K. In medieval Europe, they were used medicinally as a diuretic and to treat joint pain.

They also happen to make the most delicious soup, which is a doddle to make.
Let's go for it?

Important:

Make sure that you harvest tender young shoots of nettle as the more mature ones tend to be high in metals that irritate the kidneys.

Always gather in an area you know isn't polluted or where animals roam freely.

 If in doubt that you have identified the correct herb to use- please ALWAYS contact a qualified medical herbalist to clarify. This is crucial as many herbs have look a likes that are highly poisonous.

Ingredients:

250g Young Nettle leaves

50ml vegetable oil

1 small onion

250g potatoes- peeled and cut into small cubes

1 tsp each of chopped fresh marjoram, sage and lemon thyme (half amount dried herb as an alternative)

1 tbsp fresh chopped lovage (optional)

2 tbsp cream (oat cream or soya cream works very well too)

900ml bouillion/ milk/ dairy-free milk/ half of each

Garnish:

2 tblsp chopped fresh parsley (optional)

pinch chilli/ salt and pepper to season to taste

Method:

1. Carefully harvest young nettle leaves.
2. Using gloves and scissors pick only the fresh young tops of the nettle.
3. Remove any stalks and wash leaves in a sieve
4. Heat oil gently in a thick-bottomed saucepan, add onions, and saute gently until transparent.
5. Add the potatoes and continue to sautee 5-10 mins without browning.
6. Add the nettles and cook for another 5 mins.
7. Add herbs and spices and fluid of choice.
8. simmer for another 10 minutes.
9. Allow the mix to cool slightly and then blend to a creamy soup.
10. Stir in cream, season to liking, and sprinkle fresh parsley on top.

Once cooked nettles thankfully lose their sting and have a light spinach flavour.
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Recipe adapted with kind permission from Gaby Wieland's from  Neantog Cookbook.

If you like this recipe, you might like The Neantog Cookbook

The Neantog Cookbook offers a selection of recipes of soups, salads, mains, and sides that work well with them along with ideas for breakfast and drinks, baking, and desserts. If you have food intolerances you will find recipes that are glutenfree, dairyfree, yeastfree, and vegan.

Karin Mueller is co-owner of Solaris tea and has been working in the field of wellness and health for over 20 years now. She is a Medical Herbalist (BSc Hons), practising Midwife (BSc Hons), Massage and Spa therapist and experienced course facilitator and teacher on a wide range of topics related to mindfulness, meditation and women’s health. She is currently also studying in the ‘Medicine of Light’ school to deepen her spiritual practise.