nettle soup

Stinging nettle and wild garlic soup is an amazing nutritious soup with amazing properties and can be eaten as an appetizer or served as a dinner, together with bread. You can also freeze the soup and save it for later.

Luscious Wild Garlic and Nettle Soup

garlic leaves

onions (chopped)

olive oil

leek (diced roughly)

celery (roughly sliced)

carrot (roughly diced)

vegetable stock (I have used homemade unsalted)

potato (optional)

salt

black pepper

thyme (fresh from my garden)

butter (optional *)

tbsp double cream (optional but delicious add if used)

Prepare the nettles and if these aren&#39;t super young, remove the nettle stems using gloves or cut them off using scissors.

Wash the nettles thoroughly in a super large bowl or container. I sometimes use the sink to wash them. Most of the time just a rinse is not enough. Do the same with the wild garlic leaves.

In a soup pot, heat up olive oil and butter if using, add the chopped onion, leek, carrot, diced celery sticks and cubed potatoes. Cook for a good 10 minutes.

Pour in the stock and thyme. Bring all to a boil. Allow it to simmer for 10 minutes.

Add the nettle leaves and boil for a further 2 minutes. Fish out the thyme sprigs from the soup. Add the roughly chopped garlic leaves and simmer for 2 more minutes.

Blend all the ingredients with a hand blender so it becomes a smooth soup.

Add a drizzle of single or heavy cream. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve while nice and hot. This is however a fantastic option for a cold soup on a hot, torrid day!

A rich, ultra nettley stinging nettle soup made with nettles, stock, vegetables, potato, and a splash of cream.

Classic Stinging Nettle Soup

chicken stock

heavy cream

leeks

shallots (diced small)

onion

unsalted butter

celery

Kosher salt (to taste)

White pepper (to taste)

oz stinging nettles

Crème fraiche

chopped dill or mint

extra virgin olive oil (to garnish, optional)

Harvest fresh nettles in the spring about 4-5 inches tall.

Wash the nettles in a sink of cold water, then dry them.

Working in batches in a large pot fitted with a steamer basket, steam the nettles until completely wilted. This should take about 2 minutes. Cool the nettles. Note that you can also add the nettles directly to the blender or soup raw for a stronger flavor.

Squeeze the nettles of excess water, chop finely and reserve. If you&#39;re more comfortable blanching nettles put 2-3 quarts of water in a large pot, along with 2 tablespoons of salt and bring to a boil, adding the nettles and cooking for 30 seconds.

Remove the nettles leaves and stems to a tray, spread them out and cool naturally.

Remove a handful of nettles and finely chop them to add after the soup is pureed.

Preparing the Nettles

Sweat the celery, potato, onion, shallot and leek on medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the chicken stock and bring the mixture to a simmer. Cook on medium-low until the vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes.

Add the nettles and puree the soup a blender or with an immersion blender. Work in batches if you need. Pour the pureed soup into a pot (preferably metal as it cools faster). Chill in a sink of cold water or in a bowl with ice water.

Add the rest of the finely chopped, reserved nettles back to the soup as a garnish. Finally, whisk in the cream to loosen it. The flavor and color will improve as it sits.

Building the soup

Assess the consistency, if you prefer your soup more thin, add a splash of stock or water until it looks good to you.

Double check the seasoning for salt and pepper, whisking to make sure the salt is completely dissolved before adding more. Serve, or transfer to a container and refrigerate for up to 3 days. The flavor will be at its peak if it&#39;s made the night before.

Finishing

Serve the soup ladles into warm bowls, garnished with spoonfuls of creme fraiche or olive oil, and any other garnishes.

Serving

We served this at a "wild dinner" for a couple adventurous friends, and we all thought it was great!  We tried it with different garnishes on top and particularly liked ramp oil or a little dollop of sour cream.

My family was skeptical but everyone loved it. We have some new fall growth of nettle I used instead of spring time nettles. They can be a little tougher so this worked perfectly with them.

Can you use dried nettle leaves to make this soup ?

Delicious. Made 2 batches - added yesterday's left over Parsley sauce to one lot.... Added another flavour element and made it even better! 😋

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4zbm9du5mI

https://foragerchef.com/classic-nettle-soup/

Uploading this again with some better audio, thanks for tipping me off to that. 
The best nettle soup I've ever made. Years ago I had a really expensive dinner I was putting together. There was truffles, foie gras and caviar, but when I asked the guests afterward what their favorite course was, nettle soup won unanimously. Try it, love it, and make it again next year, or next week. You can use wood nettles or stinging nettles here. 

Stinging Nettles 
https://foragerchef.com/nettles/
Wood Nettles 
https://foragerchef.com/wood-nettles-laportea-canadensis/

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