I’ve made a few different things in the past with stinging nettles; pesto, soup and bread. This week, I made some goats cheese and nettle scones.
I’ve been eyeing up all the nettle patches in our garden and around the village here where we live. I’ve made a point of not clearing it from around the garden because I know I was going to put it to good use.
In the past week, much of it is just about to come into flower, so time is running out for foraging the tasty stinging tips. I donned a pair of gardening gloves and, with a zip-lock bag at the ready, got to work picking off the young, hairy green leaves.
If you set of on a wild nettle hunt, remember, only pick the leaves that are over two foot high; dogs passing by enjoy cocking their leg and giving them a shower! Pick them like you’d pick tea leaves, only the growing tip and top pair of leaves… and don’t forget your gloves! When you get them home, put them in a colander and give them a quick rinse under a cold tap, tossing every couple of seconds.
The only pair of kitchen gloves I have are covered in shoe polish – I didn’t want to use them to bring the scone dough together. I had to handle the stinging nettle with a couple of dough scrapers… not ideal!
If you don’t have goats cheese, most hard cheeses make good alternatives; cheddar, red Leicester, Parmesan etc. Similarly, if you don’t have any natural yoghurt, you can use buttermilk or sour cream. The recipe is very flexible.
They were really delicious; the flavours of the goats cheese and nettle work really well together. Slice in half while still warm and give each side a generous swipe of butter… lovely!
Like my recipe? Click here to save it to Pinterest!
- 500g self-raising flour
- ½tsp salt
- 1tsp cream of tartar
- 50g cold butter, cubed
- 300ml natural yoghurt
- 125g goats cheese, cut into ½cm cubes
- 20g nettle tips, chopped
- 1 egg, beaten
- Preheat the oven to 220ºC/425ºF/Gas mark 7
- Grease or line a baking sheet with baking/parchment paper
- In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, salt and cream of tartar
- Add the butter and rub together using your fingertips until you get a fine breadcrumb consistency
- Stir in the cubed goats cheese and chopped nettles
- Make a well in the centre and pour in the yoghurt
- Bring the dough together with your (gloved) hands, being careful not to knead or the dough will become tough
- Dust a work surface with flour and press the dough out to the thickness of about 2cm/1in
- Cut out the scones using a circular cutter and place onto the prepared tray
- Bring the offcuts together gently, again being careful not to knead and cut out as many circles as possible until there's no dough remaining
- Brush the tops with the beaten egg and bake for 15-20 minutes until the tops are golden and well risen
- Allow to cool for a few minutes on a wire rack