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Nettle Purée

Nettle Purée is a traditional British recipe for a classic soup of nettle leaves that's boiled until tender, pureed and them mixed with a combination of onion, milk and water thickened with a flour and butter roux. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Nettle Purée.

prep time

20 minutes

cook time

20 minutes

Total Time:

40 minutes

Additional Time:

Serves:

4

Rating: 4.5 star rating

Tags : Wild FoodVegetarian RecipesMilk RecipesBritish Recipes



This is a classic, traditional, version of nettle soup dating to the 1920s. When picking nettle leaves always pick the tender young tips and use gloves. After blanching the stinging formic acid in the leaves is neutralized and they are safe to handle and eat.

Ingredients:

400g young stinging nettle tops
30g plain flour
30g butter
1 small onion, very finely chopped
750ml 50:50 mix of whole milk and water
salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
diced toast, to garnish
fresh parsley, chopped, to garnish

Method:

Bring a pan of lightly-salted water to a boil then pick over the nettle tops before removing any tough stems and shredding coarsely and adding to the pan. Return to a boil then reduce to a simmer and cook for about 10 minutes, or until tender.

In the meantime, melt the butter in a pan, add the onion and cook for about 5 minutes, or until soft and translucent but not coloured. Scatter the flour over the top and stir in to combine. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly, then add the milk and water mix, stirring constantly to combine, until smooth. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes,

When done, strain the nettles then either purée in a food processor or pass through a fine-meshed sieve to liquidize. Stir the resultant nettle purée into the milk mix and allow to heat through. Ladle the resultant soup into warmed soup bowls, garnish with diced toast and chopped parsley then serve immediately.