Nettles? Yes, stinging nettles. The Farm is offering them at the Bainbridge Farmers market while they’re still young and tender. Use gloves to handle raw nettles. Once it’s steamed or boiled briefly it looses the sting, use nettles like other spring greens or spinach. Try some nettle pesto…
Famous food forager, Langdon Cook, has a great nettle pesto post here on his Fat of the Land Blog.
Here’s our recipe adapted from ‘Lucid Food: Cooking for an Eco-Conscious Life‘ by Louisa Shafia
1/4 pound stinging nettles
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Put the nettles in boiling salted water for 1 minute. Drain and let cool.
- Squeeze out as much of the water as possible and coarsely chop.
- In a food processor process the nettles with the garlic, pine nuts, oil, and lemon juice until smooth.
- Transfer to a bowl and fold in the cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste.