Use nettles fresh or freeze them?
From the meadow to the plate or into the chest freezer? We show you how to harvest nettles and cook them fresh. Decide for yourself whether you want to get started straight away with a delicious recipe for smoothies or pesto. Or take the opportunity to freeze some nettles to build up a stockpile.
The key points
- Use gloves when harvesting nettles.
- Pick more than you think you need because the leaves wilt during cooking, in a similar way to spinach.
- Wash the nettle leaves under hot water and then squeeze them out to prevent a skin reaction later.
- Nettles can be frozen fresh or cooked.
- Remove the stems if you do not want to use them later.
- Use reusable and airtight containers to freeze nettles.
Harvesting nettles and cooking them while fresh
If you harvest nettles yourself, be sure to wear gloves. This way you can easily avoid the unpleasant reaction of nettle leaves on your skin. We recommend picking more nettles than you think you need. Similar to spinach, the amount of fresh nettles appears to be more than you end up with once it has been cooked. The reason for this is the high proportion of water that escapes from the leaves during subsequent cooking.
Just got into your kitchen and ready to get started with a delicious recipe? Then we have another trick on how you can easily prepare fresh nettle leaves. Before making delicious smoothies, pesto or fresh salads, you should rinse the nettle leaves thoroughly under hot water. Then use gloves to squeeze out the leaves. From this point on, you can safely touch the leaves without gloves. The hairs on the surface of the leaf are bent by the squeezing process and can no longer irritate your skin.
Ingredients for two portions of nettle smoothie:
- 2 handfuls of nettle leaves
- 1 tbsp dried nettle seeds
- 1 handful of cranberries
- 1 apple
- 1 banana
- 2 handfuls of lettuce
- 1 handful of ice cubes
Recipe for nettle smoothie
Nettles are ideal for a tasty and vitamin-rich smoothie. Together with fruit and vegetables of your choice, you can conjure up a green smoothie that’s for body and soul in no time at all. If you can't get enough of our nettle smoothie, we recommend trying variations with mango, pear, cucumber or avocado. You can also replace or supplement the nettle seeds with other seeds as you wish.
Preparing a nettle smoothie
1. Prepare the nettle leaves as described above.
2. Wash the lettuce and pat dry.
3. Wash the apple, remove the core and stalk and cut into large cubes.
4. Peel and halve the banana.
5. Place the ice cubes in a blender. Then add the fruit, vegetables, seeds and nettle leaves, and blend.
6. Add a little water as required to achieve your desired consistency.
7. Serve and enjoy!
Ingredients for nettle pesto
- 3 handfuls of nettles
- ½ handful of walnuts
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- Herbal salt
- Pepper
Recipe for nettle pesto
You can prepare a delicious nettle pesto quickly and easily at home. The fresh pesto tastes wonderful with pasta, but also on bread or as a flavourful topping in salads. Instead of walnuts, you can also combine pine nuts or sunflower seeds with the nettle leaves. Roasting the seeds also gives them additional flavour.
Preparing a nettle pesto
1. Prepare the nettle leaves as described above. Make sure you squeeze the leaves well so that the oil and water do not separate in the pesto later.
2. Peel the garlic and walnuts.
3. Put all the ingredients in a blender or use a hand blender.
4. Season as required, for example with herbal salt and pepper.
5. Pour the pesto into an airtight jar. It will keep for a few days in the fridge.
6. Just before serving, you can optionally add Parmesan or another hard cheese to emphasise the nutty flavour.
7. Bon appétit!
Freezing nettles
If you have an abundance of nettle leaves or don't want to miss out on fresh pesto or smoothies even in the cold months, you can easily freeze nettles.
You can freeze nettles fresh or briefly blanched. In any case, you should wash the nettle leaves and pat them dry before freezing them. Depending on how you want to prepare the leaves in the future, it is advisable to remove the stems before freezing if you do not want to use them. However, you can easily use the stems for smoothies or pesto.
Use reusable and airtight boxes to portion and freeze the nettles.
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