A Free Lunch

I know that the crazily warm weather we've been having this week can't last and I'm struggling to stop myself sowing all sorts of seeds that normally I wouldn't plant until the end of next month. It's so hard to think of frosty weather while I'm in shorts and t-shirt and watering the parched cracked earth. So I'm hedging my bets and have bean and winter squash seedlings that have germinated and are currently in the cold frame. If they survive in there for a few more weeks until the after the usual last frost date then I'll be very happy.

The warm weather has brought out one of my favourite free foods a little earlier than usual too. Stinging nettles (Urtica dioica) are fantastic to eat when young. They have lots of iron and vitamins, taste great and best of all they're free. It's best to pick them in the spring, before they get too big and tough and before they flower. I usually pick them up to about May, and I only pick the nice little top leaves. Obviously, you need gloves, a pair of scissors and a bag to pick and take them home to avoid getting stung. But as soon as they're cooked they lose their sting. You can use them in any recipe in place of spinach, I like making nettle lasagne, but here's a recipe for my favourite way of cooking with nettels, a frittata.



Serves 2 as a main course with a green salad


500g potatoes
1 onion
olive oil
6 medium sized free range eggs
handful of peas
large handful of nettle leaves (thoroughly washed)
kitchen tongs!



Peel the potatoes and cut in half if they are large. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil & cook the potatoes until they are soft, but not falling apart (this will probably take about 10 minutes depending on the size of your potatoes). Meanwhile, finely slice the onion and fry in a frying pan in a table spoon of olive oil until softened but not brown. Transfer the cooked onion to a large bowl. Drain and slice the par-boiled potatoes as thinly as you can. If you don't have asbestos fingers like me you can leave them to cool before you do this. Add another tablespoon of olive oil to the frying pan and gently fry the potato slices in batches so that they're always cooking in one layer. Turn them before they brown, you're looking for cooked but not browned. Add a little more oil between batches if you need to. As each batch is done, add it to the bowl with the onions. Now for the nettles. Make sure you washed them well (aphids love nettles) and don't forget to keep your rubber gloves on while you're doing it. Still wearing gloves, remove the leaves from the stalks. Add a touch more olive oil to the frying pan and use the tongs to put the nettles in and then then cook them down for about 4 minutes. Once cooked they no longer sting and you can discard your gloves & tongs! Add the cooked nettles to the onion and potato. If you're using fresh peas, cook them in boiling water for a few minutes (if you're using frozen you can just pour some boiling water over them & leave for a few minutes). Add the peas to the bowl with the potato & onion. In a separate bowl, whisk up the eggs with a fork season with salt and lots of black pepper and tip the eggs into the bowl with the vegetables and mix well. Add a little more oil to your frying pan and when it's hot tip in the egg/vegetable mixture. Cook gently until the liquid has solidified. Then, if you're brave place a large plate over the frying pan, turn it over and then slide the frittata back into the pan to cook the other side for a couple of minutes. If you're a coward, put the frying pan under the grill to cook the top. Both methods work fine!