Nettle Soup

This is my basic recipe for nettle and other ‘wild greens’ soups, including fat hen and chickweed. I still think nettle is the best. A well-made nettle soup is no mere emergency fodder but a truly luxurious dish. It’s worth noting that nettle and other green soups freeze extremely well. An excellent variation is to mix the nettle leaves with watercress or Cos lettuce. The carrot and celery are optional but do make for a more robust, full-flavoured soup. I sometimes add a few fresh or frozen peas as well, to give sweetness and improve the texture.

Ingredients:

Serves 6

1/2 carrier bag full of nettles, tops or young leaves
50g butter
1 large or 2 medium onions, finely sliced
1 large carrot, chopped (optional)
2 celery sticks, chopped (optional)
1 large garlic clove, crushed (optional)
1 litre good chicken, fish or vegetable stock
a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg (optional)
3 tablespoons cooked rice or 3 rice cakes
2 tablespoons thick cream or crème fraîche
salt and freshly ground black pepper

To garnish:
a little extra cream or crème fraîche
a small bunch of chives, chopped
a few sprigs of wild chervil or parsley, chopped

Pick over the nettles and wash them thoroughly. Discard only the tougher stalks, as the soup will be liquidised.

Melt the butter in a large pan and sweat the onion, plus the carrot, celery and garlic if using, until soft but not brown. Add the stock and pile in the nettles. Bring to the boil and simmer for 5–10 minutes, until the nettles are tender. Season with salt and pepper, and with nutmeg if you wish.

Purée the soup in a liquidiser with the cooked rice or rice cakes (you will probably have to do this in 2 batches). Return to a clean pan, stir in the cream and reheat but do not let it boil. Check the seasoning, then garnish with a swirl of cream and chopped herbs to serve.

To serve cold: on warm spring or early summer days I love to serve this soup cold. After liquidising and adding the cream, pour the soup into a bowl and leave to cool, then transfer to the fridge for a couple of hours before serving. For accelerated cooling, fill a large basin or saucepan with ice cubes and water and place the bowl of soup in the iced water. Stir to chill, adding more ice cubes if the first batch melts. Stir well just before serving and ladle the soup out into bowls. Garnish each with a swirl of cream and a sprinkling of chopped chives and wild chervil.