Nettle Soup

Ingredients

½ carrier bag full of nettle tops or young small nettles

2 medium red onions

2 carrots

2 sticks of celery

1 clove of garlic

A knob of butter

1 litre of chicken stock

Sea salt and black pepper to season

A pinch of nutmeg

3 rice cakes

2 tablespoons crème fraiche

Small bunch of chives or parsley chopped

Method

• Wash the nettles thoroughly and cut out any thick stalks (wearing gloves!). Roughly peel and chop the onions, carrots, celery and garlic.

• Gently melt the butter in a saucepan and sweat the vegetables for about 5–10 minutes to soften them.

• Add the stock and the nettles and bring to the boil for 5 minutes until the nettles are tender, then season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.

• Take the soup off the heat and allow it to cool slightly. Crumble in the rice cakes and purée until smooth with a stick blender, or alternatively purée in a few batches in a jug blender, adding a rice cake to each batch.

• Pour the blended soup back into a clean saucepan and return to a medium heat, add the crème fraiche and stir until incorporated, taste and season further if required.

• Serve with a little more crème fraiche on top, a sprinkling of the chopped herbs and some nice crusty bread. This soup can also be served cold on a nice sunny spring day.

Tip: If you have a patch of nettles and they get too big and old, hit them with a strimmer or lawnmower and young nettles will be up in days, so you can enjoy this soup all summer long.