Eating Nettles: The 5 Best Ideas

Nettle soup with potatoes

This dish is very simple and made with few ingredients. The soup is suitable as a starter for a winter menu.

• You need 30 g nettle tips, 1 large onion, 4 potatoes, 1 l vegetable stock, 4 tbsp olive oil, and optionally 8 tbsp crème Fraiche.
• Wash the nettle tips. Put on kitchen gloves.
• Peel and dice the onions and potatoes and then sauté them in oil.
• After two minutes you can add the nettles and the vegetable broth.
• Let the soup cook for ten minutes.
• Optionally, you can stir in some crème Fraiche. Finally, season the soup with salt and pepper.

patties

Patties are suitable for children’s birthday parties as well as for a summer parties.

• You need 4 large hands of nettle herb, 1 large onion, 1 small carrot, breadcrumbs, 1 tablespoon sesame, nutmeg, and 1 egg.
• Boil the nettles in salted water for ten minutes.
• Drain the nettles and reserve the cooking water. You can use this for a vegetable broth. Let the nettles cool down a bit.
• Then cut the cabbage into small pieces. Grate the carrots and finely chop the onions.
• Mix these three ingredients with sesame oil and egg in a bowl. Add the spices and breadcrumbs. A soft but easily malleable mass should form.
• Heat some oil in a pan.
• Form the patties into a round circle with your hands and place them in the hot pan. Brown both sides over medium-high heat.

Nettle Banana Smoothie

Since nettles contain a lot of chlorophyll, they are also very suitable as an ingredient for smoothies.

• You will need 2 bunches of nettles, 2 ripe bananas and 1 tall glass of milk.
• Wash the nettles and peel the bananas.
• Put all the ingredients in a blender with the milk and nettles.

Pesto with wild garlic

The pesto is suitable for pasta dishes and spreads.

• You need 250 g nettles, 250 g wild garlic, 100 g dried tomatoes, 100 g ground almonds, and sunflower oil as required.
• Wash the nettles.
• Mix the stinging nettle and wild garlic leaves, the dried tomatoes, ground almonds, 1 teaspoon salt, and some oil with the hand blender. This destroys the burning hairs of the nettles.
• Slowly add oil until desired consistency is reached.
• Season the pesto with salt and pepper.
• Put the pesto in glasses and then cover the mass with oil. It lasts longer that way. Store in a cool, dark place.

Nettle cream cheese

This cream cheese is a delicious spread.

• You need 100 g young nettles, 200 g double cream cheese, and 2 cloves of garlic and lemon juice.
• Blanch the nettles. To do this, briefly immerse them in boiling water in a sieve.
• Drain well and finely chop the leaves.
• Peel the garlic and press it through a garlic press.
• Mix the cream cheese with the garlic and nettles.
• Finally, season everything with lemon juice, salt, and pepper.