Nettle Soup!

Nettle Soup

Nettle soup is such a lovely flavoursome soup and lets face it the main ingredient is free!!

Young nettles are so sweet and this time of the year the countryside is full of them, plus nettles are full of iron which is great for your blood. Use only young nettles or the tops of bigger ones and i'm pretty sure i dont have to remind you, but, wear gloves while gathering them!!

Tip: If you have a patch of nettles and they get too big and old, hit them with a strimmer or lawnmower and young nettles will be up in days so you can enjoy this soup all summer long.

Serves 4-6:

Half a carrier bag of nettle tops or young nettles

2 carrots chopped

2 medium red onions chopped

2 celery sticks chopped

1 clove of garlic

A pinch of nutmeg

Sea salt and black pepper

A knob of butter

1 litre of chicken stock

3 rice cakes 

2 tablespoons of creme fraiche 

Method

1. Wash the nettles thoroughly and cut out any thick stalks. (again wearing gloves)
2. Melt the butter in a saucepan and sweat the onions, carrots, celery and garlic until softened just. 
3. Add the stock and the nettles and bring to the boil for 5 mins until the nettles are tender, season with the salt, pepper and nutmeg.
4. Puree the soup in the blender in 2 batches until smooth.
5. Pour back into a clean saucepan and return to a medium heat add the creme fraiche and stir until incorporated, taste and season again if required.
6. Serve with a little creme fraiche on top and chopped chives or parsley. It can also be served as a cold soup on a nice sunny spring day.