Description
This simple, easy, healthy and cheap soup combines nettles with onions and potatoes.
Ingredients
- 50 g butter or 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
- 2 large onions
- Salt and pepper
- 3 large potatoes
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 litre vegetable stock
- 100 g stinging nettles
- A little double cream (optional)
- Some chopped chives (optional)
Instructions
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Heat the butter or oil in a heavy-based saucepan or casserole.
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Peel and roughly chop the onions and add them to the saucepan. Season with salt and pepper and very gently fry them for around 15 minutes until they are soft and sweet. It is really important to add seasoning at this point and to cook gently to bring out the flavour of the vegetables – it will make a huge difference to the taste of your soup.
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Peel and chop the potatoes and add them to the saucepan. Then add the peeled and crushed garlic cloves. Continue to cook slowly for a further 5 minutes.
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Then add the vegetable stock to the saucepan. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes.
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Wash your nettles thoroughly. Remove any thick stalks. Add the leaves and thinner stalks to the saucepan. Cook gently for a further 5 minutes until the potatoes have softened.
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Turn off the heat and allow the soup to cool slightly before blending.
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When you are ready to serve, you can add a swirl of double cream and a sprinkle of chopped chives to the top of each bowl.
Notes
It is really important that you pick nettles that you know are free from pesticides or herbicides and that you wash and prepare them carefully. See blog post for instructions.
You can serve this soup hot or cold. If you want to serve it cold, you may wish to thin it out by adding a little fluid. You can use more stock or, alternatively, use water or milk.
This soup is vegetarian and can be vegan if you use vegetable oil rather than butter and omit the cream or use a non-dairy alternative.
Keywords: nettles, stinging nettles, soup, foraged food, food for free, vegetarian