Several people have asked me - HOW can they possibly eat Stinging Nettle? I suppose it does seem as if this is some kind of masochistic activity, but once you know that when Nettles are cooked, the lose their sting, it all makes sense. Nettles are covered in tiny hairs that are almost invisible and these “hairs” are hollow tubes that are filled with formic acid. They act like little syringes, sticking you with formic acid when you brush against them and this is what causes the sting.
I am often and regularly collecting Nettles so the sting doesn’t really bother me anymore. I really don’t find it that painful, (unless it is at the end of the season when the Nettles are really ferocious!!). At spring time, they are relatively gentle and fresh. I only collect the tops and I make tea or dry the Nettles for tea during the winter months. I make my medicine with fresh Nettles but again, Nettles can be dried for medicine making during winter. (I wrote an article recently about all the health benefits of Nettle, you can read it here - Nettle ) In this article I am chatting about Nettle as a food.
There are so many ways to incorporate Nettle in to your cooking. One person on YT has just pointed out that the Italians use Nettle to colour their pasta! I think we can use Nettle in as many ways as we use other vegetables. We make soup, put Nettles in to stews and casseroles; we saute and stir fry, put it into veggie bakes and as you will see, in quiches or savoury tarts AND cakes.
Here are some of my recipes -
For tea - collect fresh Nettle and take about 2tsps and chop finely. Pour on water that is just off the boil and allow to infuse for 15 mins or more. You can also dry Nettle by hanging in small bunches to make tea throughout the year.
For tincture - a tincture is a more powerful medicine. Chop fresh or dry Nettle finely and place in a clean jar. Cover with vodka and allow to macerate or infuse for 6 weeks. Strain and take 3-5ml when necessary. For children, make the tincture with ACV or with glycerine.
The Quiche - or to use Nettle in a savoury way. Make enough short crust pasty to cover your dish. (1 part plain flour to 1/2 butter plus pinch of salt and enough cold water to create a dough) Roll out and line your dish and bake blind for 5 mins or so. In the meantime, sauté onions in butter or oil and then add the Nettle leaves, (removed from the stem) and any other wild greens, allow to wilt and then add to the dish. Pour over beaten eggs mixed with a dash of milk, (enough eggs for the size of your dish, I used 5 eggs) and if required add chopped peppers or tomatoes and then top with grated cheese. Bake for 25 mins or so at 180 - 200 degrees. Serve warm or cold with a salad or vegetables. If you prefer, you can blanch Nettle before use.
For the cakes - 4oz of butter mixed with 3oz sugar and then fold in 4oz of Self Raising flour and 2 eggs. When your batter is fully mixed, take the Nettles and blanche for 1-2 minutes in boiling water. Place the blanched Nettles in a blender and whizz to a pureé. Add enough of the puree to the cake batter to create a change in colour and then place in your cup cakes paper and baker for 20mins at 180 degrees. For the butter cream or frosting, I used about 2oz of butter and 2oz icing sugar mixed together with a little Nettle juice from the puree added. I topped the cakes with this and then sprinkled flower petals over the top. I used Cherry Blossom, Dandelion flower petals, a Violet and Daisy petals.
For me, food and medicine are one and the same and there are various ways that we can process our wild weeds for food and medicine. This is what my Hawthorn Academy is all about. You can find out more about the herbal courses I offer here - Courses Our wild weeds are also intelligent sentient beings and we can get to know them deeply - Plant Ally Another way to create a deep connection with plants and Nature is by following the Wheel of the Year as we do in the Wise Woman Way training course. This is a transpersonal course which uses shamanic and druidic techniques to heal and make that reconnection - WWW To find out more about "weeds" - wild medicinal and food plants in other words, I have two volumes of The Weed Handbook - Books
There are other weeds of course - Plantain for example, (Plantago lanceolata) is a favourite of mine and I am delighted to be giving a presentation about this plant at Susun Weed's Linden Conference at the beginning of May. Linden Conference
I am also thrilled to be going back to Studio Feasa in July, to present a magical and herbal weekend for the celebration of Lughnasadh. Contact Roisín here - Lughnasadh Celebration
If you happen to be in Ireland at the end of May I am doing a Herbal Walk and Talk at Letterfrack, Connemara, Galway. For more details contact Janet at Walk and Talk
Thanks for watching and for subscribing - much appreciated! Have a wonderful week xxx
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