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Has anyone here tried cooked nettle leaves?There's a nettle bush at the end of our plot and I just read that they're quite tasty.... ;D ;D ;D

When would be the best time to pick them?Also any recommended recipes?
Any info would be appreciated.Thanks. :)

Haven't tried it myself but I drink Twining's bramble and nettle tea and that's pretty d**n good! I know too you can make nettle soup. I'll see if I can find a recipe. Nettles are certainly good for plants and supposed to be good for you too.

We make nettle soup each year, but not until about march/april when you can pick the fresh tender new tips. Hugh Fernley Whittingstall has a good recipie.

Great flavour and more iron than spinach, just make sure you have a good pair of gloves on when you pick them!!!

Jerry

I used to make nettle soup, back in the days when I had nettles on the plot and precious little else you could eat. It's nice as long as you use young shoots, and leave it alone after about May.

Thank you all  :) :) :)

Nettle soup sounds nice!I'll have a look at H. F. W's website.

So I can use the leaves instead of spinach?I'll wait until March and see how young tips have developed.Looking forward to trying some.....

Don't know about nettle soup but have had them as "spring greens". They need to be as young as possible, say 6" high and cooked quite briefly I would think, though I have only ever had them as an overcooked green mush in the style of most "working class"  veg cooking of the period.
They were certainly only a very early spring crop and no, we weren't eating them as a novelty. ;)

So do you use the small leaves from decent-sized plants, or only plants that are tiny? We have a small patch of nettles and they do look tasty.. just not sure what to pick..

Melanie

We only picked leaves from newly emerging plants. Other areas might do it differently.

My parents were fairly heavily into self-sufficiency and we ate nettles a fair bit when younger (back in the mists of time). 

As previously mentioned, the leaves need to be the smallest, newest leaves, preferably in an un-pesticided/non-exhaust fumed position.

Be aware that they reduce dramatically on cooking.  Ma used to fill up a 1' W & 1' H pot and after a quick cook there was only about an inch left.

Nettles taste a little simmilar to spinach and Ma once said they went quite well with squirrel pie...

QuoteWe only picked leaves from newly emerging plants.

QuoteAs previously mentioned, the leaves need to be the smallest, newest leaves,

I've just been to the lottie and had a look at the nettle bush I mentioned(had this topic in mind).The top growth didn't look coarse at all,they even looked quite edible ;D....mmmm but I should wait until really young leaves grow in spring,shouldn't I?

Quote from: KT on January 30, 2006, 11:33:25
I've just been to the lottie and had a look at the nettle bush I mentioned(had this topic in mind).The top growth didn't look coarse at all,they even looked quite edible ;D....mmmm but I should wait until really young leaves grow in spring,shouldn't I?

Y'see, that's just what I keep thinking. I suppose I'll wait til spring, though...

Squirrel pie does sound pretty tasty, but sadly I've grown rather attached to our squirrels..

Melanie

Quote from: KT on January 30, 2006, 11:33:25

Squirrel pie does sound pretty tasty, but sadly I've grown rather attached to our squirrels..

Let them live, I say.  We only had them because a wheelbarrow load was left outside our door as a gift; my poor father had to top & tail them and the only meat is on the bottom half.  He felt quite ill at having to do this (he was better at cockerel dispatch - less fidly and far less fluffy!)

We have several clumps of nettles at the back of the allotment, under the large hedge, which divides the allotment field from a garage. This is full of semi mature trees, hazels and hawthorns, mostly and it's impossible to grow veggies there. I leave the nettles for the butterflies,  pick the young leaves in early spring and make them into a "tea". They're supposed to be full of iron and good for a spring pick me up. I've never used them for soup but keep meaning to try this.

Even the tiny ones still sting, by the way! I wear gloves.

Rowan ,nettle tea sounds good,too. :) I love herb tea...
You brew some leaves in hot water as with mint tea?

QuoteSquirrel pie does sound pretty tasty, but sadly I've grown rather attached to our squirrels..

Squirrel pie??I don't think so....Last year,they ate 90% of our strawberries but I wouldn't dream of having a revenge this way.
When our precious sprouting broc got pecked at though the netting by the pigeons,someone suggested a leek&pigeon pie but I was relieved that he was only joking!

nettle soup is good. as advised pick very early spring when shoots are young.
nettle tea is superb gives you a rush of energy.
for those times when you need a pick me up i take nettle syrup. wnen made it will keep bottled in the fridge for a week or more, you can also flavour it.

recipe as follows.
Nettle Syrup

to each 500grm of nettle tips add 1 litre of water.
Boil for 1.5 hrs. and strain the nettles away.
Add 500 grm of Sugar to each 500 grms of juice and boil for ½ hour.

p.s. i would also advise making sure you know where your nettles have been.
what with spraying and  so on. there is a lot to be said for having and area that grows wild.

pete

KT,

Yes, exactly and leave them to simmer for just a few minutes unless you prefer your tea strong. Then I just pour it out through a tea strainer or small sieve (usually the sieve in this house, things like tea strainers just disappear!  ::))

peterpiper,the syrup sounds very tasty.I'll definitely have a go if I can get plenty of leaves.

Quotep.s. i would also advise making sure you know where your nettles have been.
what with spraying and  so on. there is a lot to be said for having and area that grows wild.

The nettle bush is at the end of our plot,in a quiet spot under the trees and our site is surrounded by the woods.Nothing else grows there except brambles so like Rowan,we just leave them there for wildlife.

Thanks Rowan for the tip.Another thing to look froward in spring :) :)

The first Naked Chef book has a recipe for Nettle, Borage and ricotta filling for ravioli! Don't think i wrote that one down though (book has been returned to the library)

Recipes for Nettle Soup, Frittata and Risotto in this month's Grow Your Own magazine. And a free packet of tumbling toms too  ;D

QuoteNettle, Borage and ricotta filling for ravioli

Here's another one...Borage :o !!!Has anyone tasted it?I grew some plants last year as companion plants and got a horrible allergic reaction on my face from brushing the leaves.Couldn't go out for a week.... :'( :'( :'(
I'm Borage-phobic now .