This is a quick and easy dish, perfect to whip up as a light meal or afternoon snack. With a hero ingredient of nettles – found in abundance at this time of year – balanced with the depth and boldness of blue cheese, this is a recipe that favours the brave.
Serves – 2
Foraged Ingredients
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- Nettle leaves (1 small bag)
Other Ingredients
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- Glug of olive oil
- Small tub of crème fraîche
- 1 spoon of wholegrain mustard
- Small block of blue cheese (or any other strong cheese)
- Slices of sourdough bread (around 4)
Method
- Prepare your nettles by cutting the leaves from the stems, rinsing them in a bowl and draining them in a sieve or colander. Use a spoon to lightly press the leaves in order to remove excess water.
- Heat the olive oil over a medium heat in a large pan and drop in the nettles. Heat for about 5 minutes, stirring often, until the leaves are completely wilted.
- Remove the nettles from the heat and leave to cool for a minute. Then, roughly chop the leaves on a board.
- To a bowl, add the nettles, crème fraîche, mustard and most of the blue cheese. Use a spoon to combine the ingredients well. Season with salt and pepper if desired.
- Put the grill on to a medium-high heat, and lightly toast your slices of bread.
- Spread the nettle-cheese mixture evenly over the slices, and crumble the remaining cheese on top.
- Grill until golden and bubbling, then serve immediately.
Expert’s Tip
The nettle flavour defines this dish, so it is important that they taste good. Try to just use the top 6-8 leaves of young nettle plants to get the best flavour.