Nettle And Wild Garlic Soup

In my native Sweden, foraging has never really gone out of fashion, with mushrooms and wild berries being the most popular treasures. Here in the UK, it’s long been regarded as a bit of a fringe activity for hippies and survivalists, but it’s very much back in fashion now.

Last weekend I attended a “herb walk” hosted by a local herbalist who taught us all about the multitude of edible and medicinal plants available around our semi-urban woodlands. It was lots of fun and inspired me to go back out the next day to harvest some stinging nettles for soup. Since wild garlic is also plentiful this time of year (our local park literally smells like an Italian restaurant!) I decided to add some of that, too.

(You can find tons of information online about how to harvest nettles and wild garlic, and apologies for stating the obvious but you should of course always make sure to consult a reliable reference when picking anything you intend to eat. Check your local rules and regulations too, to be on the safe side.)

I make most soups in my electric pressure cooker, but you don’t have to, of course – gentle simmering will do just as well. If you go that route, you will probably want to add some extra stock to make up for lost steam, and avoid losing too much of the goodness by only cooking the soup until the veggies are just soft.

Like many soups, this one is started off by sautéing a mirepoix consisting of finely chopped celery, carrots and onions in some olive oil. To add some body to the otherwise fairly watery nettle soup, potato is also added to the mix. The exact quantities of nettles and wild garlic aren’t set in stone – they do shrink a lot, so you probably just want to fill your stock pot or pressure cooker as high as it will allow.

Nettles have numerous nutritional benefits but most notably they are very high in iron – more so even than spinach. Spinach and nettles are pretty similar, and you will find that nettle soup resembles spinach soup. Wild garlic is of the allium family and has similar nutritional properties as ordinary garlic, and if you haven’t tried it you will be amazed at how garlicky it tastes. (I use the leaves only, but I understand you can also use the root.)

Now, on to the recipe:

Nettle And Wild Garlic Soup

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium onion, finely diced
• 1 medium carrot, finely diced
• 2 sticks of celery, finely diced
• 2 medium potatoes, finely diced
• About 500g – 750g nettles (use tender top part only), washed
• About 300 – 400g wild garlic leaves, washed
• 600ml vegetable stock (1L if not using a pressure cooker)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method

• Heat the oil in a pan and sauté the chopped vegetables until softened.
• Put the sautéed vegetables, nettle and wild garlic leaves and vegetable stock in a pressure cooker or stock pot and stir well.
• Stir in some salt and pepper if you like, but leave final seasoning for the end.
• Pressure cook on high for 10 minutes or simmer on low heat until the potatoes and carrots are done.
• Remove from heat and mix until smooth with a hand blender.
• Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve.

Non-vegans may want to stir in some cream to serve, and/or try the tradition of serving nettle soup with two halves of hard-boiled eggs floating in it – I’ve never quite understood how you’re supposed to eat those without making a mess, though!