Up to last week I had never, ever, had Nettle Soup before. Yet, I remember my friend, Gail Sinclair, when she had the Old Street Wine Bar in Malahide telling me that Nettle Soup was wonderful and I should definitely try it.
I had forgotten this until my sister, Sarah, started talking about how she had had Nettle Soup for the first time last year, and how she enjoyed it.
We are “blessed” with an awful lot of nettles here in our little patch of North Tipperary.
I am told it is a sign you have good ground…. that doesn’t make it any easier when you are on your hands and knees pulling out those damned roots!
This year I decided it was time to try out Nettle Soup so, of course, I resorted to the trusted Darina Allen, Ballymaloe Cookery Course – you know Darina will have a recipe! And she did.
Ingredients:
- 35 g butter
- 275 g potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 cm cubes
- 110 g onions, chopped
- 110 g leeks, chopped
- Salt & freshly ground pepper
- 1 lt chicken stock
- 150 g young nettle leaves, washed and chopped
- 150 ml cream
Firstly – 150 g nettle leaves is quite a pile! A good basket full!
Method:
Melt the butter, add potatoes, onions and leaks, coating in butter. Season.
Cover with paper lid and seat on gentle heat for 10 minutes. Make sure vegetables are soft but not coloured.
Add the stock and bring to boil, cooking the vegetables. Add the nettle leaves. Simmer uncovered for 2 or 3 minutes. Do not overcook the vegetables as they will lose flavour.
Add the cream and liquidize.
Enjoy!
How did it taste? I am not sure what I was expecting! I don’t know what nettles should ‘taste’ like! It was nice, we enjoyed it, it looked a really cool colour…. I guess the taste is best described as earthy and woody! 🙂
A Year In Redwood 
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