Stinging Nettles
Who knew you could eat stinging nettles? It only takes one time of walking through a patch of nettles while hiking in shorts to know to stay away. Now I can show them, by cooking them up into tasty concoctions to enjoy all year long!
I had noticed a few blog posts last year on nettles and made a mental note to try and find some this spring. So I asked my Dad to let me know when the nettles are up in the areas we hike. He just laughed and said, “Why don’t you just pick the ones on our property?” So I had Dad keep on eye on the nettles this spring. They popped up but then the cold weather and minimal sun kept them pretty small. A few days ago we got two nice sunny days in a row so I went out to their place on Sunday afternoon to conquer the nettles!
Wear long clothes & gloves!
My nettle picking technique was to have a glove on one hand and scissors in the other. I gently grabbed the top of each nettle, cut them off under the top couple sets of leaves and dropped them into a paper bag. I collected one large paper bag full of nettles and went back to the house to process. I placed the nettles into a large colander and using tongs rinsed them well. That batch I blanched in boiling water for 3 minutes and then shocked in a bowl of ice water. Once cold I squeezed out all the excess water and spread them out on a cookie sheet to freeze. To store in the freezer I placed them in a large plastic bag.
Washed nettles.
What fun! After the first batch I went out again and filled up another bag of nettles. This batch I cut a little lower to get some of the larger leaves. After washing the nettles I used the tongs to hold up each nettle and I snipped off the larger leaves into a salad spinner. I got off all the excess water and then laid the leaves out on a kitchen towel to dry more. Once I got home I separated the leaves into one layer on a window screen that I propped up. Since the humidity in Montana is so low they will be completely dry in a couple of days. Those leaves I will crush and place into a jar and use to make tea or add to soup, quiche, smoothies, fresh pasta, etc.
Shocked in ice water - such a cool color!
The tender tops on the second batch were blanched and squeezed dry. I placed them in the fridge and made pesto with them the next day:
{Recipe} Stinging Nettle Pesto
(Adapted from Langdon’s blog linked to below)
2 cups blanched stinging nettles
1/2 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, grated
1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted
3 garlic cloves
1/2 cup good olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
Sea salt and pepper
Place ingredients, minus the cheese, into a food processor. Pulse until blended and proper consistency is reached. Transfer to a bowl and stir in cheese, taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary. Use pesto or freeze in ice cube trays to use at a later time.
Nettle pesto to be frozen.
I’m excited with how good the nettles are so I’m planning on going out again to gather more!
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Do you pick nettles?
If you do, how do you use them? Please share!
Looking for other nettle recipes? Here is a blog with some great ones: Fat of the Land
What do they taste like? Are you able to handle them after the blanching? This whole thing has me really curious, but not so much that I want to gather my own. Just eat yours.
Addie, I’ll have to have you over for a nettle feast! The flavor is “similar” to mild spinach but more earthy. I wouldn’t really be too excited to eat them plain on a regular basis but seeing that they are more nutritious than any veggie I could grow I love that! So I will be using them in dishes with other ingredients… the pesto tastes great!
That was my question too after reading this, really wondering what the heck they taste like! And, can you handle them after you cook/blanch them? Or how did you squeeze the water out?
Can you eat them right after blanching?
I didn’t know they were nutritious. So… rich in antioxidants and the same things that spinach is rich in?
Very interesting. If you still have some next time I go down there, I’d like to try some…
Just put another screen of leaves out to dry & blanched another batch. Nettles may be my new favorite! I’ll probably try and go get one more large batch to preserve so I should still have some when you come down. By the time you come we should be able to have an all local meal!
I use tongs while handling them before they dry or get blanched but the sting goes away after the cooking or drying. To get rid of the excess water I take the nettles in my hands and squeeze them well. You can eat them right after blanching.
I love nettles! I use them mostly for tea, but I’m branching out a little. I used them to make cookies recently. I posted my recipe here – http://insearchofbees.wordpress.com/2011/07/11/green-tea-and-nettle-cookies
Joy, those cookies look yummy! I might have to make a batch for Christmas and not let anyone know what’s in them.
That pesto looks really good…
Just been reading your interesting article. Thinking of doing the same here in the UK. When you talk about drying them, what do you mean by a window screen?
Hi Gareth, a window screen is a wire screen used on windows to keep the bugs out. You could use a wire drying racks or anything where air will curculate well. Or you can bundle up the nettles and hang them up to dry!
This seems like something you might enjoy, and goes well on all types of grilled meat. http://youhavetocookitright.blogspot.com/2012/05/post-100-grilled-venison-heart-with.html
Looks great, I just wish we had ramps around here
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