Stinging Nettle Soup: It’ll tickle yer innards

Luckily, cooking breaks down the stinging parts of stinging nettles so the only tickling your innards get are from the nutrients packed inside Urtica dioica. For more about the health benefits of stinging nettles and where to find them, check out their entry in Meet the Plants. This soup is souper simple and so very good. It’s hearty, but with all the green goodness you crave after the winter. It really is the perfect early spring dish.

This soup gets blended, so it helps to start with the ingredients chopped up pretty small. Remember to wear gloves while handling fresh nettles.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound stinging nettles (some stems are fine)
• 1 medium leek (use the green parts too, it’s good for you) + any other oniony stuff, I used a handful of ramp leaves. I guess you could use an onion
• 1 potato - peel it if you want
• 1 quart broth - chicken or veggie
• some garlic
• olive oil or butter
• salt and pepper
• fresh ground nutmeg​
• lemon juice and/or balsamic vinegar

You could make this entirely on the stove, but if you’ve got an electric pressure cooker, go ahead and use that.

• Chop your veggies
• Heat up 1-2 tbsp olive oil or butter and sauté your onion/leek/ramp mix until it softens a bit
• Add chopped potatoes, garlic, nettles, and broth
• Stir in a little salt and pepper, maybe about 1/2 tsp fresh ground nutmeg.
• Lock the lid of your pressure cooker with the vent sealed and cook under pressure for 0 minutes. On the stove top, cover and cook until everything is real mushy
• Blend it up (I used an immersion blender, but you could do it in batches in a regular blender or food processor.
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Stir in a splash of lemon juice and balsamic vinegar (I used a hickory balsamic vinegar that added a nice hint of smokiness)
• Serve plain or add a scoop of yogurt or soft boiled egg for extra scandinavian-ness.