What can't you do with nettles?

You may or may not remember the time last summer that Justin and I couldn't stop picking blueberries. Fifty pounds later, we bought ourselves a deep freezer to house the bounty. Well, we've done it again--sort of. Sunday morning, we went towards the mouth of the Elwha in search of spring morels. We were a bit early in the hunt, but we did find a great patch of nettles--which isn't difficult to find in the Pacific Northwest in the spring. Anyway, we started pickin' and the rest is history. I think we ended up with 5-10 lbs of the green stuff.

Since then, we've been trying to use this springy green in everything. I recently heard nettles (Urtica dioica) described as the unhousebroken kin of spinach--apt. They're a little woolly and taste like all of the great minerals that reside in them, but with the right combination of ingredients, they are quite delectable. Thus far, we have dried them for tea, blanched and frozen them, pesto-ed them, made nettle pizza, nettle soup, and nettle lasagna. As a girl who loves quiche, nettle quiche will likely be on the menu this weekend. A friend and wild harvesting inspiration, Pat, mentioned making nettle chips (like the much loved kale chips)! Do you have any ideas?

Nettle Lasagna - simply find a spinach lasagna recipe that you love and substitute nettles that have been blanched in boiling water

Justin's Nettle Soup

Nettle Pizza with a garlic-pesto cream

 

Nettle Pizza

adapted from Food and Wine Magazine

1 ball of pizza dough

2 c. fresh nettles

4 cloves of garlic, minced

4 TBS. pesto (I used nettle pesto, but basil would be great)

1/8 c. cream

1/2 bell pepper, sliced

a handful  of fresh mushrooms, quartered

1 fresh ball of mozzarella 

hard cheese like Parmesan or asiago for garnish

salt and pepper 

olive oil

1. Preheat pizza stone in oven at 500 degrees for 25 minutes.

2. Saute bell pepper, mushrooms, and 1 clove of minced garlic in olive oil until soft. Set aside.

3. In a skillet, heat 1 tbs. olive oil and 1/4 c. water. Add the garlic and cook until soft. Stir in the pesto and cream and cook on low until it reduces to a point where the sauce coats your spoon. Set it aside.

4. Toss the fresh nettles in a bowl with a bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper. 

5. Spread the dough on the pizza stone and top with garlic-pesto cream--leaving about 1 in unsauced around the edges. Then, add the sauteed veggies and nettles. Finally, add slices of mozzarella on top.

6. Turn your oven to broil and make sure the rack is positioned right under the broiler. 

7. Broil the pizza until the cheese is bubbly and the crust is golden! Top with Parmesan and Enjoy!