Nettle and wild garlic soup

Ingredients

• 50g butter
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1.75kg tender nettles, washed and roughly chopped
• 250g wild garlic leaves, washed and roughly chopped
• 300ml white wine
• 1.5 litres chicken stock
• 300ml double cream
• Salt and freshly ground white pepper
• Crusty bread, to serve

Method

You will need roughly 1¾ carrier bags of nettles to ¼ bag of wild garlic leaves.

Don’t pick nettles with thick woody stems; go for the succulent green stems and only the top third of the plant. This is a dish for early in the season, as nettles get tougher as spring passes – better served in May than June. I also recommend giving the leaves a thorough wash.

Heat the butter and oil in a large saucepan over a low heat and add the onion. Cook for five minutes until softened. 

Add the nettles and garlic leaves to the pan, sprinkle with salt and pour in the wine. 

Cover the saucepan until the leaves wilt in the steam, then add the stock. Simmer for about ten minutes. 

Whizz with a hand blender and pour in the cream, then add a grind of white pepper. Warm through and serve with crusty bread.

This recipe is from The Allotment Cookbook by Pete Lawrence. Published in hardback by Weidenfeld & Nicolson.

Get more great ideas for soups in our soup and stew recipe collection.