Nettles

Click on the image, above to submit to Pinterest.

Nettles

Nettles is a traditional British recipe, based on Alexis Soyer's recipe of 1854, for a classic dish of boiled nettles that are chopped, finished in milk and flour and served topped with a poached egg. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Nettles.

prep time

20 minutes

cook time

40 minutes

Total Time:

60 minutes

Additional Time:

(+over-night curing)

Serves:

Rating:

Tags : Wild Food Vegetarian Recipes Milk Recipes British Recipes

This is a traditional British recipe redacted from Alexis Soyer's 1854 volume A Shilling Cookery for the People, the first Victorian cookbook for the common man.

Original Recipe

296. Nettles.—Wash them well, drain, put them into plenty of boiling water with a little salt, boil for twenty minutes, or a little longer, drain them, put them on a board and chop them up, and either serve plain, or put them in the pan with a little salt, pepper, and a bit of butter, or a little fat and gravy from a roast; or add to a pound two teaspoonsfuls of flour, a gill of skim milk, a teaspoonful of sugar, and serve with or without poached egg

Modern Redaction

Ingredients

1 1/2 colanders full of nettle tops, washed and drained
salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
30g butter
2 tsp plain flour
150ml milk
1 tsp granulated sugar
4 poached eggs, to serve (you can find a recipe and guide for perfect poached eggs on this site)

Method:

Bring a large pan of water to a boil. Add the nettle tops and boil for about 20 minutes, or until tender.

Drain the nettles and chop finely then place in a pan. Stir in the butter until melted then scatter over the plain flour and stir to combine. Add the milk and mix until smooth then work in the sugar.

Heat gently until the mixture thickens. Arrange on plates, top with a poached egg and serve.

Find more Alexis Soyer Recipes Here and more Traditional Victorian Recipes Here.