This light and zesty nettle pasta dish is packed full of fresh flavours and is so, so easy to throw together. It takes less than thirty minutes to make and doesn’t require a great deal of ingredients.
I originally made this as an experiment when I ate stinging nettles for the first time and it turned out really well. I’d recommend this recipe as your gateway into foraging if you were curious about trying nettles as it is delicious but so so simple to make. If desired, you could add a protein source to this dish – I would recommend my Lemon & Dill Tofu which would work perfectly with these flavours.
I know the idea of eating nettles won’t appeal to everyone because they just see them as weeds that sting you when you get too close, however, they are edible and once you take the sting out by either crushing them, (eg with a blender), or cooking them they make a great addition to dishes. Obviously nettles aren’t available in supermarkets but, depending on the area you live in, they’re generally pretty rife. All you need to do is go out and collect some, take a gardening glove and a bag with you so you don’t get stung, and once you get home trim the leaves off the stems before rinsing well in a colander. Discard the stems and use the washed leaves in your dish – just remember not to touch them!
In terms of taste, I would say that nettles most closely resemble spinach so if the thought of eating nettles makes you uncomfortable you could just substitute them for spinach in this instead. You could also add other leafy green vegetables to this dish if they need eating up to help avoid food waste.
If you like this nettle pasta, why not try some of my other quick and simple pasta recipes such as this simple Creamy Red Pesto Pasta or my Lentil Bolognese. If you fancy trying some other forms of foraging you may like my Wild Garlic Pesto recipe!
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