Nettle Cream Soup

Stinging nettles might sound unpleasant (and they are if you walk through them by accident), but they're also a wonderfully delicious and amazing in this soup. The wonderful, mild sweetness of cooked nettles is built up and enriched by other vegetables, yielding a rich, creamy, and satisfying vegetarian soup.

Course Soup

Cuisine British, European, French, Irish, Scandinavian

Keyword cream of nettle soup, spring, stinging nettle soup, stinging nettles, vegetarian

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 15

Total Time 35

Servings people

Calories 241kcal

Ingredients

100 g stinging nettles
50 g butter
1 clove garlic
1 small onion (about 120 g) diced
1 large yellow potato (about 200 g) diced
1 medium carrot (about 125 g) diced
1 small celery stalk (about 50 g) finely chopped
1.5 cups vegetable stock (or chicken stock)
1 cup water
1/3 cup half-and-half cream plus more to garnish
black pepper to garnish
extra virgin olive oil to garnish

Instructions

Pick over the nettles to remove any large stems, bad leaves, or bits of debris. Make sure to wear gloves for this part - preferably fairly robust ones.
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the nettles (make sure to wear your gloves) and blanch for 90 seconds, then remove, rinse with cold water to stop cooking, and drain.
Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat, then add the onions and garlic and saute until fragrant and slightly browned - about 5 minutes.
Add the potatoes, carrots, celery, and stock and bring to a gently boil. Cover and simmer (reduce the heat if necessary) until the potatoes and carrots are quite soft, about 10 minutes.
Add the cooked nettles to the soup along with the cup of water. Return the soup to a boil and simmer, covered, for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool a little.
Pour the soup into a blender or food processor (or use an immersion blender for a slightly thicker consistency) and blend. If serving the soup immediately, return it to the pot and add the cream, then stir to combine. If serving later, set the soup aside or refrigerate it, then reheat and combine with cream later.
Serve the soup warm or chilled, with a drizzle of cream, a little olive oil, and if you like, some chilies or Tabasco sauce.

Notes

Stinging nettles are a common wild food in much of North America and Eurasia. If you're looking to get into foraging, I would encourage that you do a lot of reading and maybe even take a course, but nettles are an easy plant to start with. That being said, only eat a wild food if you're 100% certain about identifying it. If you don't want to forage for you own nettles, they're relatively common at spring farmers' markets.

Nutrition