Nettle Soup

This really is a delicious soup. It is obviously very inexpensive and was always prepared as a spring tonic. Nettles are high in vitamin C and iron.

Method

• Use gloves to gather young nettles.
• Wash the nettles and blanch with boiling water.
• Wash the spinach and add to the nettles.
• Pour the hot stock over the nettles and spinach in a saucepan.
• Season and simmer for three quarters of an hour, adding more stock if needed.
• Leave soup to cool and blend in blender.
• Mix the flour to a smooth paste with some cold milk.
• Add this to the soup and bring back to the boil, stirring all the time.
• Chop the sausages into small rounds and add to the soup.
• Swirl in the sour cream just before serving.

Spinach, Pignoli and Goat Cheese Lasagna

If using dry lasagne sheets, cook them according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Stir-fry the chopped onion in a heavy based frying pan until soft. Add the garlic and, quickly, the spinach. Toss and let it steam. Season with salt and pepper and set aside. Crumble the ricotta with a fork and grate the goat cheese. Toast the pine nuts, tossing them in a dry pan. In a greased ovenproof dish, line layers of noodles, spinach, crumbled ricotta and grated goat cheese, seasoning with a bit more salt and pepper. Drizzle each with extra virgin olive oil. Finish with a layer of pasta and cover it with the cheeses. Bake it in a 200C oven until golden on top.

Potato Spinach Gnocchi with Butter and Parmesan

Blanch the spinach in boiling water for 20s and transfer to a bowl with iced water. Drain, squeezing out as much liquid as possible, and chop. Boil the potatoes with the skin on until soft when pierced with a knife (about 25min). Drain and peel them while still hot (hold them with a tea towel). Mash and pass them through a sieve. Add a pinch of salt, the spinach, eggs and flour. Knead the dough until smooth and elastic (add a bit more flour if it seems too sticky, but not too much). Cut and shape the dough into long 2cm diameter cylinders. Cut it into 2cm pieces. Lightly roll each gnocchi with the back of a fork, to create little patterns. Boil them in salted water until they rise to the surface. Drain and, while still hot, mix them in a bowl with the butter, grated parmesan cheese and season with pepper. Toss until the butter and parmesan form a thickened sauce that coats the gnocchi.

Creamy Spinach Soup

Fry the onion and garlic gently for 5-6 minutes until beginning to soften. Stir in the potato and continue to cook gently for 1 minute. Pour in the stock and simmer until the potato starts to cook. Pour in the milk and cream and bring to a simmer, then stir in half the spinach and the lemon zest. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes until the spinach has completely wilted down. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt, pepper, nutmeg and lemon juice and blend together with the remaining spinach. Reheat if needed. Whip the cream slightly and serve the soup with a dollop of cream.

Spinach, Goat’s Cheese and Pine Nut Lasagna

Precook the lasagne sheets and set aside (store them with cling film between layers so they don’t stick). Sweat the onions and garlic in some olive oil. Add the spinach and cook until soft. Remove from the heat. Grate the goat’s cheese and crumble the ricotta with a fork. In a dry frying pan, lightly toast the pine nuts. Oil an ovenproof dish and lay enough lasagne sheets to cover the bottom of the dish. Spread a layer of ricotta, sprinkle some of the grated cheese and pine nuts, and spread a layer of spinach. Cover with another layer of lasagne and repeat until the dish is full. Finish with a layer of pasta and a generous amount of grated hard goat’s cheese on top. Bake in a medium oven until the cheese is crispy and brown.