This Nettle Tarte Tatin recipe is best served warm and provides an original and tasty way to use up the glut of courgettes and tomatoes in late summer/early autumn.

Nettles also give a quick second growth of new tops that can be used to make a pesto sauce. When the pine nuts are roasting in the frying pan do not on any account take your eyes off them and keep them on the move. When lightly browned remove from the heat and the pan or they will continue to brown.

Ingredients

• 100g Basmati rice
• ½ teaspoon turmeric
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 red pepper, finely chopped
• 1 courgette, finely chopped
• 80g nettle pesto, made with a good handful of nettles a slug of olive oil and a tablespoon pine nuts, zapped in a food processor.
• 2 heaped tablespoons pine nuts, dry-fried in a pan
• Grated zest of 1 lemon
• Salt and black pepper
• About 600g tomatoes
• 500g block flaky pastry ( this isn’t boasting but I make mine with 200g strong plain flour and 150g butter. I just love making pastry)

Suggested Instructions

1. Place the rice and turmeric in a small saucepan, just cover with boiled water from the kettle and cook for 8 minutes. Drain and place in a large bowl.
2. Preheat the oven to 200ºC gas 6. you will either need a 26cm non-stick frying pan or use the same size tart tin lined with baking parchment. It could be square. But have the paper coming up the sides so there are no leakages.
3. Heat the oil in the frying pan and add the prepared onion, garlic, courgette and red pepper, sautéing until just softened (about 10 minutes).
4. Add the vegetables to the rice along with the pesto, pine nuts, lemon zest and seasoning. Mix well.
5. Cut the tomatoes in half around the equator. If they have a hard woody core then cut that out and discard.
6. Place the tomatoes skin side down in the frying pan (no need to wash), packed in fairly tightly. Spoon the rice mixture over the top and sides, smoothing it down with the back of a spoon.
7. Roll out the pastry to a thickness of 2 x £1 coins, a bit bigger than the pan. Place over the rice and push the pastry gently down around the inside edge.
8. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until the pastry is brown. Allow the tart to cool in the pan for 5 minutes or so and turn out on to a large plate. The tomato skins will come off very easily between finger and thumb.

Serves 6

For this Stinging Nettle Gnocchi recipe you do need to use a floury potato (we used King Edwards), to avoid using too much flour in the recipe. It is possible to freeze the uncooked Stinging Nettle gnocchi (after they have been shaped and lightly dusted in flour to stop them sticking) for a week or two and then cooking them from frozen.

Ingredients

• 600g potatoes, peeled and cut into even-sized pieces
• 150g well-washed nettle tops
• 2 egg yolks
• Salt and pepper
• 120g plain flour (Little rice flour or Dove’s Farm gluten-free to coat)

• 75g butter
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely sliced
• 12 sage leaves, finely shredded

• 50g freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• Few chopped nuts, I used cob nuts as they were in season but walnuts or pecans would work equally well.

Suggested Instructions

1. Boil the potatoes in boiling water until tender, drain and mash really well.
2. Put about a centimetre of water in the bottom of a large saucepan and bring to the boil. Add the nettle tops and cook for 5 minutes and then quickly cool them under cold running water. Tip into a sieve and squeeze out all the liquid with the back of a wooden spoon. Place in a food processor and chop finely then stir them into the potatoes.
3. Add the 2 egg yolks and season well.
4. Add most of the flour and quickly mix it in. The secret of good gnocchi is to use sufficient flour to hold the mixture together but not too much that they become heavy. If the dough does not feel too sticky, break off a piece and roll it into a ball, drop it into boiling water to test. If after a few minutes it floats to the top without losing its shape, then do not add more flour. To shape the rest I find it easiest to break off individual pieces and roll them into a ball with hands floured with rice flour, placing each finished one on a floured plate. Another way is to divide the mixture into 4 and roll each into a finger width. Cut into 2cm pieces and roll each one into an oval.
5. Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil, drop half the gnocchi (about 16) into the pan and cook until they have all floated to the surface. Leave them to cook for a further 10 seconds, then lift them out with a slotted spoon on to a hot plate lined with kitchen paper. Repeat with the remaining gnocchi.
6. While the gnocchi are cooking, place the butter, garlic and sage in a small saucepan and fry for 1-2 minutes.
7. Divide the gnocchi between four plates, pour over the sauce and sprinkle over the parmesan and nuts. Serve immediately.
8. ALTERNATIVE. Instead of sage butter the gnocchi could be served with a simple tomato sauce.

Serves: 4

The following Nettle Beer recipe was created by Maude Grieve back in the 1930’s. Maude was a Fellow of the Royal Horticultural Society, as well as an extremely respected herbalist with an encyclopedic knowledge of medicinal plants.

During the First World War she wrote and published pamphlets on the cultivation and uses of herbal medicines. It is these pamphlets that went to make up her Magnum Opus “A Modern Herbal”. It is from her book that this Nettle Beer recipe comes from.

Don’t expect anything alcoholic or ‘sweet’, as this Nettle Beer recipe produces a drink that is dry and crisp, yet extremely refreshing. Most of my friends that I tried it on liked it, and found it an unusual drink. Some friends simply didn’t get on with it at all.

Personally I liked it, and have used it in a Road Kill Venison casserole that was cooked up over an open fire along with numerous wild edible plants. A good time was had by all.

So if you are looking for a low-alcoholic refreshing Springtime beverage, then this Nettle Beer recipe might just be the ticket. Or if you leave it mature, then you can drink over the Summer.

Ingredients

• 2 gallons of cold water
• a bucket of nettle tops
• 3 handfuls of dandelion leaves
• 3 handfuls of cleavers
• 2oz of fresh (bruised) ginger root
• 2 cups of brown sugar
• 1 slice of toasted brown bread
• 1oz fresh yeast
• 3 tsps of cream of tartar or 9 teaspoons of lemon juice

Suggested Instructions

1. Add 2 gallons of cold water to a large pan. I use my jam making pail.
2. Add the Nettles, Dandelion leaves, and Cleavers.
3. Next bruise the ginger and put in the water along with the other ingredients.
4. Bring the water to the boil and allow to simmer for 40 minutes, then strain and stir in 2 cupfuls of brown sugar.
5. When the water has cooled and is lukewarm, crumble the yeast into a dish and mix in a little water and a teaspoon of sugar to form a paste, then spread on the toast and then place the toast on top of the beer. (Fresh yeast is available from bakeries and health stores).
6. Put your pail in a warm corner and allow to sit overnight, then strain through muslin and add either the cream of tartar or lemon juice.
7. Bottle and tie securely. You can drink this pretty much immediately or leave it to ‘mature’ till the Summer.

I try and eat as much of my wild edible plants in their raw state as possible. In this wonderful raw soup recipe, the vibrant flavour of Ground Elder (Aegopodium podagraria) goes perfectly with the Nettles (Urtica dioica).

Ingredients

• 1 handful of Ground Elder leaves
• 10 Nettle tops
• 4 medium sized tomatoes
• 1 glug of olive oil
• salt and pepper

Suggested Instructions

1. Wash the Ground Elder leaves and Stinging Nettles.
2. Chop the tomatoes.
3. Put the Ground Elder leaves, Nettles and chopped tomatoes into a blender.
4. Add a glug of olive oil.
5. Now blend for about 3 minutes until smooth.
6. If the mixture is too thick, add a little water until you have desired consistency.
7. Add salt and pepper if you like. I prefer to not season this soup that much in order for the plant flavours to come out on their own.

Serves: 1 person

Most people often think of soup when they talk about Stinging Nettles (Urtica dioica). For those of you that have been going on at me to give you a Nettle soup recipe, here it is.

Nettles have often been seen as the food of peasants. Nothing wrong with that says I. So enjoy this gorgeous, rich green Nettle soup that just bursts with nutrition.

For all Noble Peasants everywhere.

Ingredients

• 4 garlic cloves (crushed)
• 40 nettle tops
• 500 ml of vegetable stock
• 8 oz cooked potatoes
• 1 glug of vegetable oil

Suggested Instructions

1. Cook the potatoes until soft.
2. Wash and roughly chop the Nettles.
3. Heat oil in pan.
4. Add the crushed garlic, and fry for 30 seconds.
5. Now add the chopped Nettles, stock and chopped potatoes.
6. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 10 minutes.
7. Blend and serve.

Serves: 2 people

Juicing raw plants is one of the quickest ways to introduce nourishing nutrition into your body. This power-packed raw juice recipe made from Stinging Nettles (Urtica dioica), Carrots and Apples is the perfect get-up-and-go wild food drink first thing in the morning.

Nettles provide lots of sustaining energy, and also suppress the desire for food.

• 6 stinging nettle stems, leaves, stalks and all.
• 4 carrots
• 2 apples

Suggested Instructions

1. Power up your juice extractor.
2. Bend the Stinging Nettles in half and push through the juicer.
3. Next juice the Carrots and Apples.
4. Stir and serve.

Serves: 2 people

Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica) has traditionally been used as a Spring tonic, and in this video I show you just how easy it is to make a nourishing Nettle infusion.

Last week I went on a two-day Nettle infusion fast. Now I’ve fasted numerous times over the years, but using Nettle infusion was one of the most enjoyable ways to do one. Plus minor skin irritations cleared up within hours of starting it, and my skin became super soft.

Don’t worry I’m not suggesting you fast on this ‘green nectar’, but as a Spring tonic just consume 2-3 cups a day for seven days, and then drink a cup a day for as long as your body tells you it needs it.

Oh, and if the taste is a little earthy for you, you can always serve it with a little local honey, or a slice of lemon. Personally I love it as it is.

So folks, it’s time to blow out the cobwebs of the past seasonal over-indulgences, and re-energise yourself with this nourishing Nettle infusion.

Frank Cook (internationally renowned edible wild plant expert) discusses the importance of Nettle (Urtica dioica) as food and medicine.

Frank gives us a fascinating insight into the many uses of Nettles, and the why it needs to become the national food of England.

The nutritional profile of this fantastic plant is impressive…

Nettle Nutritional Profile
(calculated on a zero moisture basis per 100gm)

Aluminium: 13.8 mg
Ash (total): 8.4%
Calcium: 2900 mg
Calories: 0.60 /gm
Chromium: 0.39 mg
Cobalt: 1.32 mg
Crude Fibre: 11.0%
Dietary Fibre: 43.0%
Fat: 2.3%
Iron: 4.2 mg
Magnesium: 860 mg
Manganese: 0.78 mg
Niacin: 5.20 mg
Phosphorous: 447 mg
Potassium: 1750 mg
Protein: 25.2%
Riboflavin: 0.43 mg
Selenium: 0.22 mg
Silicon: 1.03 mg
Sodium: 4.90 mg
Thiamine: 0.54 mg
Tin: 2.7 mg
Vitamin A: 15,700 IU
Vitamin C: 83.0 mg
Zinc: 0.47 mg

Source: Nutritional Herbology: Mark Pedersen

Running time: 6:38