by Scott Bennett

Created on: February 07, 2007   Last Updated: May 04, 2007

Stinging nettles are an intimidating source of food but boy are they a good one. Once gathered and processed they can be used much as spinach and are just as nutritious.

The key to successful stinging nettle collection (aside from think gloves) is fussiness. You should, like herbivores in wildlife shows, only go for the tender new growth at the top of the plant. They are at their best in the early spring when all of the plant growth is new.

When you have a lot (a bulgingly full carrier bag) they should be taken home and washed thoroughly (still wearing said thick gloves) whereupon any bits and pieces that fall off the nettles should be thrown out along with the dodgy looking but totally normal brown water you now have and any particularly chewy looking stalks.

Next you need to sweat down the nettles in a pan with a knob of butter. They should cook for about 4 minutes wilting down just like spinach. When they look pretty wilted to you drain them thru a colander. The liquid that comes off could be drunk as a nettle tea but will need some sweetening with honey or sugar.

Put you nettles aside and start work on your basic risotto. Take a cupful (by which I mean a large English teacup or 2 thirds of a mug not your US cup measure) of any short grained risotto rice (arborio is the easiest to find in most shops).

Put this ready to one side. Also get about a 900ml to a litre of stock up to just below boiling temperature while you finely chop an onion. Sweat this onion on a medium heat till it's turning translucent then up the heat and throw in the rice to toast in the butter. When the butter is absorbed add a ladle full of stock. Now stir the risotto hard while the rice absorbs the stock. Keep adding ladles of stock in this way until you have a bout 300-400 ml left.

At this point add the now chopped nettles into the mixture (oh by the way once you'd boiled them earlier you should have removed the gardening gloves as the heat will have destroyed the stinging barbs). Continue adding the stock until you feel that the rice is cooked but still have some bite I normally find I have one and a half ladles left when I reach this point.

Grate in a decent amount of Parmesan and then season with salt and pepper tasting as you do it (because the Parmesan and stock may have made it salty enough).

Then serve.

This will serve 2-3 people as a massive main course or 5-6 as a starter or accompaniment.

There are also many variations on this dish. Try adding garlic to the onions. Try using leeks instead of onions. Try using a soft cheese like Camembert or Taleggio instead of Parmesan or even try adding wild mushrooms or chestnuts or bacon or all of the above.

Do enjoy and for related photos and poetry visit www.scooooot.spaces.live.com

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