I went on a wild food walk at Shambala festival and I was seriously inspired. There was so much useful information but the main thing I took away was the fact that you could cut nettles back and they would come up several times a year.

I paired nettles with wild garlic in spring and I thought that the autumn crop might work well with sweet chestnuts, my main autumn foraging crop, and the result was delicious. With a glut of beech nuts (2023 was a beech nut year) I created this dish, which is one of the best dishes I’ve ever invented. If you want the spring version of this, it’s here: Nettle and Wild Garlic Soup.

Ingredients

  • Bag of nettle tops, washed and roughly chopped (I use scissors, hold the stem with a glove and cut the leaves into a bowl)
  • 10 chestnuts, roasted
  • 30g butter
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 1 medium potato
  • 1 clove garlic, crushed
  • 750ml of vegetable stock
  • handful of parsley, chopped
  • handful of toasted beech nuts (optional)

Instructions

  • Cook onion in butter for few minutes
  • Add crushed garlic clove and potato, cook 10 mins
  • Add stock and roasted chestnuts and simmer for 10 mins
  • Add nettles and cook for 3-4 mins
  • Puree with blender

Serve

  • Serve with chopped parsley and toasted beech nuts