It's spring time, in case you haven't noticed, and one of the spring time treats for me is to go out and pick the tips of the very first shoots of stinging nettle (Urtica dioica). They have a special taste, distinctly green and also very minerally. It is said the the very small ones do not sting you, but I have learned that it simply is not true. While I agree that their aggressiveness is indeed far from the grown up ones, you do get a funny feeling in your fingers for a long time afterwards if you pick them without gloves. It is not a seriously annoying feeling, but I would recommend you to use some thin gloves.
The recipe is really quite simple. The soup is done in the same way as one can make soup of many green-leaved veggies, such as spinach, green cabbage, etc.
It is difficult to give an exact measure for the amount of nettles that is needed to make a certain amount of soup, but around 2-3 liters per liter of soup might be about the required amount.
First rinse the nettles by immersing them in cold water and at the same time remove non-nettle parts that has happened to join the nettles when you picked them. Change the water a couple of times until it looks clean.
Put the nettles in a big pot together with a few cups of water. Bring it all to the boil while pressing the nettles under the surface every now and then. They will rapidly become soft and reduce in volume once the water starts to boil. Let them boil for around five minutes and pour the nettles in a strainer. Press the nettles to get rid of more of the liquid, which is now dark purple/green and is said to be good for strengthening many plants if you dilute it, so save it if you want to make use of it in this way. Personally, I don't use this liquid in the soup, since I feel it gives a bit too much of the green and minerally character.
Chop the nettles as fine as you wish. I normally chop them rather fine and then put about two thirds of them in a blender together with some of the broth to make a fine puree and then mix it with the chopped nettles, to give the soup a bit more texture.
In the pot melt a piece of butter of about the same volume as the flour you will add shortly. When it starts to boil, add about 2-3 tbsp of flour. Stir the mixture well, until there are no lumps or dry remains of flour in the butter. Add a good broth of your own preference little by little and stir well to avoid lumps. I use mostly chicken broth from cubes and sometimes a little of vegetable broth.
Add the nettles and bring it to the boil. Check the taste if it needs any more seasoning, if so, correct it to your own taste and then serve the soup with one two halves of hard boiled eggs.
There are several variations of this soup, of course. Some add milk or cream, but I prefer the fresh, almost raw taste of green spring that you get with out the cream. I often add a little of some kind of onion too. Chives, garlic, or spring onions are fine. Add them to the nettles before boiling, so they will be chopped together with the nettles. A dollop of white wine could of course also add a little extra.
Excuse me for writing this in a sort of narrative style. I hope you dare trying it out, it is really a great way to celebrate spring, and all the minerals, vitamins and stuff in the nettles are said to be most beneficent for you too!
Cheers, Anders