So, we finally cooked up the fruits (leaves?... soups?...) of our Brandnetel collecting from the weekend! I have to say that I think this is the first and only time that I've ever had to cook something whilst wearing some protective clothing! In this case, it was thick rubber washing up gloves... those nettles were picked, but they would still definitely be a horrible thing to be picking up in bare hands!
Ingredients
500 grams brandnetels
Salt
Olive Oil
4 Potatos
Celery
Garlic
Onions
1 litre stock
Salt/Pepper for seasoning
GLOVES GLOVES GLOVES!
Method
First thing (AFTER PUTTING ON THE GLOVES!) is to pick the leaves off the stems...The leaves are the bits that you want to be cooking in the soup... meanwhile, twigs, branches and various bugs... whilst possibly adding flavour, aren't really the main purpose of the soup! If you can, this is probably a great thing to delegate to someone else! The leaves and branches are still prickly with their little needles... also, when picking them, be careful about where the discarded bits are going... when you are cleaning up, you don't want to be picking up bits accidentally with your bare hands!
Next up, you will want t wash the collected brandnetels (brandnetellen?... Dutch isn't my first language!). This is to get rid of any crap that might be on them... after all, you are collecting them from a public place, so dogs/foxes/people might have been peeing on them! I do question the wisdom of peeing into a brandnetel patch... but people do do weird and stupid things....
Boil up a pot of water (lightly salted for flavour, the same as if you were cooking pasta) and drop the leaves in. After about two minutes, the leaves will be cooked and also safe to touch... but before sticking your hands in the pot to touch them, empty them out and rinse them in cold water... they will be hot (DUH...).
Finely chop the leaves, they are bit like spinach at this point. Also, you will need to cut up the Potatoes... Cube the potatoes into small pieces so that they will cook faster... they will be the slowest to cook of the lot.
Also cut up the garlic, celery and onion, and pan fry them in a touch of oil. You may as well use the same pot that you used to pre-cook the brand-netels... it saves on washing up afterwards! Unless you are one of those horrible people that leaves a gigantic mess after cooking... (cough... my wife....)
After the garlic, onions and celery are fried... add in the brandnetels, potatoes and the stock. Cook for about 15-20 minutes on a medium heat, stirring regularly to avoid it burning and sticking on the sides of the pot.
As an aside, soup will always need a side accompaniament... it is essentially flavoured water after all! So, this is a great chance to get your baking skills on and make yourself a great loaf of bread to go with it... or in my case, your wife makes a great loaf of bread!
When it is ready... grab your trusty staff mixer and whizz it all up until there are no lumps... leaving you with a beautiful rich green coloured soup!
Brandnetel soup is a great spring meal (I'm afraid that food presentation isn't my strong point...)... light, full of nutrients and great fun to go harvesting with the kids in the local park or forest. Like most soups, it is even better the next day... somehow, soups, stews and casseroles all gain extra flavour by sitting in the fridge overnight!
I think that the next time that I cook it up, I will add some more potatoes to the mix... the soup did thicken up overnight, but when it was fresh it was a touch on the watery side for my tastes... on the other hand, my wife did prefer the more dilute version... for some reason, she didn't like the thicker texture of the reheated soup!
Account banner by jimramones
If I see netel in the market next time I go do my groceries, I will buy some and try this Brandnetel soup recipe. It`s been years since I had last had this.
First time for me! It was unexpectedly good!
Always a first time for everything, that turned out looking like a wholesome plate of soup, bread is always good when freshly baked.
Well done for using something that is on offer when out walking.
!tip
I always eat too much of the fresh baked bread... I always regret it!
Nice warm meal, make a curry dish or warm stew, ask wife to roll bread ready, place curry/stew into roasting pan dollops of bread dough on top. Oven bake for another half an hour and wallah an excellent meal to try. Yes warm bread.... never enough, always have eyes bigger than your belly (sounds like my son) 😄
Oh, this sounds good as well! So, just cover the stew with lumps of bread dough, not like a pie covering?
Not a pie covering, just dollops of bread dough on top, can sprinkle savoury spice to add flavour as well. Makes a yummy change similar to eating a bunny chow.
Are these the same as stinging nettles? Stinging nettles are plentiful where I live. I hadn't thought to prepare them in the way you're showing here. Looks like the type of experiment I would make, so I think I'll give it a chance next time I find some in a foraging mission.
I think that they are the same... but if you make it, I would suggest that you make it a bit thicker... potatoes... or someone suggested cream?
A huge hug from @amico! 🤗
Thanks for the support!
I just said to my girlfriend yesterday that we should definitely make some. I never tried it, and it's like the perfect season for it. Lots of young nettles around. Maybe I should really get to it tomorrow
It's really good! Definitely try it out! It's supposed to be healthy as well....
Love this @bengy, I'll have to try it. My daughter makes nettle tea alot and shares there are so many health benefits associated with nettle. Great idea! I hope you and your family are staying safe and healthy!
I have been hearing lots about the goodness of nettles! I had no idea before trying out this soup! All healthy thanks... although, we have no concerts anymore! Hope everything is good with you guys!
Fury!@joanstewart wrote lately about: Feel free to follow @joanstewart if you like it :)
Sending tips with @tipU - how to guide.
🎁 Hi @bengy! You have received 0.1 HIVE tip from @joanstewart!GREAT POST!!!
Thank you for publishing it to our community feed!
We have cross posted it for you!
You can see which community it was posted to HERE
❤ MWAH!!! ❤
JOIN OUR DISCORD COMMUNITY
SUBSCRIBE TO OUR COMMUNITY FEED
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER