Deli Blitz 00013


Sammy's Nettle Soup


As it's a nettle soup, they ought to measure up too at least half the volume of the ingredients. Many recipes make use of a pre-made stock, mostly chicken stock. But then, what use to make a vegetable soup when our vegetarian friends can't enjoy it? Thus the remaining ingredients will make up the base of the soup.

A bucket or grocery bag of freshly picked young nettle tops is more or less half a kilo. It is important to only pick young nettles whom grow away from traffic and on a patch that isn't threaten with herbi-or pesticides the last years. The top 4 to 6 leaves are the best to cook with and please do not forget your gloves.

For the base you can use any soup vegetables you like, celery, leaks, onions, carrots, beans, broccoli, whatever really. The ones you find in the recipe below just happen to be in my fridge last Saturday.


What you need

• Olive oil


• 500gr Soup vegetables (i.e.+/- 100gr onion, celery, parslay, brocoli and carrots)


• 4 cloves of garlic


• 4 bayleaves


• thym


• A thumbsize fresh ginger


• Salt & Pepper


• 2 too 3 liters of hot water


• 500gr young nettles


• 200ml cream


• A cauldron, a very large cooking pot

• For the base, cover the bottom of a fairly big cauldron with olive oil and add all the chopped vegetables, crushed garlic, bay leaves, thyme, choped ginger and season with salt and pepper.


• Turn up the heat until they start to fry, lower it then to a gentle fire to let them simmer slowly. Once the onions get translucent, cover the cauldron and let them sweat with the lid on for about 5 minutes.


• Add the hot water, turn up the fire and bring it to a boil. 2 litres will make a thick creamy texture and 3 litres will give you a more liquid soup. I used about 2.25liters.


• Once it is boiling, add the chopped nettles. Like spinach they'll loose quickly their volume, but you'll appreciate to be cooking with a big kettle at this point. Stir the mixture, put the lid back on and let it gently boil for 10 minutes.


• After those 10 minutes you turn off the heat and blend the mixture well. To finish you can add some cream to make it richer.


• Serve warm, preferably in good company.