Recipe: Nettle Soup
½ collander nettles, tops or young leaves
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 celery stick, chopped
1 medium potato, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed (optional)
Chicken, or vegetable stock (fresh is best, but stock cubes/powder are ok too)
1 tbsp thick cream or crème fraîche (optional)
Put the onion, carrot, celery, garlic and potato in a pan with enough stock to cover. Simmer until potato is soft. Sort through the nettle, selecting only fresh healthy young leaves, and rinse thoroughly. Add to the pan and cook for another 5-10 mins until nettles are tender (add more stock if necessary). Blend with a hand blender or food processor until smooth. Add more stock if desired to reach the desired consistency. Season, and stir in cream or crème fraîche if using just before serving.
Serves 2.
Energetics: Tonifies Yin, Blood and Jing. Detoxifying.
2 Responses to “Recipe: Nettle Soup”
Celidh on October 7, 2010
Hi Neil, you’ve mentioned several times about the benefits of nettles.
Normally I’d pick them in the Spring. However I noticed there are huge groups of them growing near where I live, so I took the opportunity to gather a few in.
Is there any issue with using nettles collected at this time of year, or do they basically work the same way?
Neil on October 15, 2010
Hi Celidh, Nettles are around for a long while, the trick is to only gather the small young leaves. In Spring, and leaves will do as they are all nice and young. After the nettles flower, crystals form in the older leaves which can irritate the urinary system, so if you’re picking later in the year, make sure you just take the 2 or 4 smallest top leaves… Neil