Cakes & Bakes: Goats cheese and nettle scones

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!

Goats cheese and nettle scones

2020-05-14 15:32:12

Prep Time

15 min

Cook Time

20 min

Prep Time

15 min

Cook Time

20 min

Ingredients

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

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Instructions

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

H is for Home Harbinger https://hisforhomeblog.com/

Nettle pesto

The nettle patches around here are in fine form at the moment. For the past week or so, I’ve been telling myself off for not carrying gardening gloves and a large plastic bag when I go for a dog walk. Finally, I remembered to do it yesterday and picked myself a bagful of bright green, vibrant nettle tips.

I’ve previously shared recipes for nettle soup and nettle loaf. This time, I’m making a batch of nettle pesto.

The nettles take the place of basil and I’ve replaced the more traditional pine nuts with walnuts.

The taste and smell is much earthier than traditional pesto but can be used in exactly the same way. It’s a very versatile store cupboard ingredient. I like it with an extra glug of olive oil and mixed through plain spaghetti then finished with a spoonful of grated Parmesan. I also like adding a few small dollops of pesto to the top of a pizza just before putting into in the oven.

Justin thinks it’s great with roasted or pan fried meats too – and has just made chicken breast wrapped in smoked ham and filled with nettle pesto butter for this evening’s meal.

Nettle pesto

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Course Condiment

Cuisine British, Italian

Ingredients

Carrier bag-full of nettle tips
2 cloves garlic
50 g/2oz Parmesan
75 g2½oz walnuts
2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
5-8 tbsp olive oil

Instructions

Bring a saucepan of water to the boil - enough water to be able to submerge all the nettles
Put a large colander into the kitchen sink
Blanch the nettles for about 30 seconds, using a wooden spoon to push the leaves down into the water
Carefully pour the nettles into the colander in the sink and allow all the water to drain away. Allow to cool fully
Finely slice the garlic and grate the Parmesan
Put all the ingredients into a food processor and pulse for about a minute
Decant into sterilised glass jars

Keyword forage, nettles, pesto

Cakes & Bakes: Nettle loaf

Foraging season is upon us again. A fortnight ago I made a batch of wild garlic butter. This week, the stinging nettles are just right for picking. We had a patch in a corner of our allotment that was looking lush and healthy. It’s now had a little pruning session – and is the star ingredient in a nettle loaf.

Don’t forget, if you’re going to try this recipe, take a pair of gloves and only pick the tips and first two leaves – much like tea-picking, I reckon!

The nettles make for a rustic, flavoursome and attractive loaf.

I’ve used a basic white loaf recipe; but a half & half mixture of white and wholemeal will enhance the earthy, nutty flavour of the nettles. And nettles are SO good for you!

Click here to pin this nettle loaf recipe for later!

Nettle loaf

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Cook Time 35

Course Bread

Cuisine British

Ingredients

5 g/⅙oz active dried yeast
300 ml/10.5 fl oz warm water
500 g/18oz plain flour
10 g/⅓oz salt
handful of nettle leaves

Instructions

Add the yeast to the water and stir to remove any lumps. Add a teaspoon of sugar (optional) to help it along if the yeast is a bit old. Set aside for 15 minutes until it forms a foam
In a colander, rinse & drain the nettle leaves removing any thick stalks. Set aside 4 or 5 of the leaves before roughly ripping the remainder
Add the flour to a large mixing bowl and make a well in the middle
Pour the yeast liquid into the well in the flour
Bring the flour into the centre and combine
Add the salt to the dough and knead to form a ball
On a lightly floured work surface, knead the dough for 10-15 minutes
Put the dough back into the bowl, cover with clingfilm and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled in size (about an hour)
Lay the reserved nettle leaves, smooth side down, into a well-floured banneton if you have one. If not, lay them into a well-greased loaf tin
Once proved, empty the dough out on to a lightly floured work surface and knead in the nettles (this is best done wearing a pair of clean rubber gloves)
Form the dough into a ball and place into the banneton (or oblong if using a loaf tin)
Put the banneton/loaf tin into the large mixing bowl and cover with clingfilm and leave to prove, again until doubled in size, in a warm place
Preheat the oven to 240ºC/465ºF/Gas mark 9, put an empty roasting dish on the bottom shelf of the oven and fill a cup with cold water and set aside
Once the loaf has risen, if using a banneton, grease a baking sheet and gently decant the loaf on to it, trying not to knock any air out of it
Quickly & carefully pour the cup of water into the roasting dish before putting the loaf into the oven
After 10 minutes, turn the oven down to 200ºC/ 400ºF/Gas mark 6
Bake for a further 20-25 minutes before taking it out of the oven
Leave to cool on a wire rack for at least half an hour before use

Keyword boule, bread, loaf, nettles

Nettle soup

Whilst we were out walking this Easter weekend we came across a patch of lovely young stinging nettles…

…ideal for making our first nettle soup of the year. Fortunately, we had the forethought to take some gardening gloves and a carrier bag with us.

It was delicious with a couple of slices of home-made crusty bread! Not only is it tasty, nettles are really good for you.

Here’s our simple recipe if you’d like to try it out for yourself:

Nettle soup

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Course Soup

Cuisine British

Ingredients

1 medium onion
2 sticks celery
1 small leek
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 large knob butter
1 vegetable stock cube
4 pts water
4 medium potatoes peeled & chopped
large bowl/standard-sized plastic carrier bag-full of nettle leaves only use tips & young leaves

Instructions

Roughly chop onion, celery & leek
Put in large, thick-bottomed saucepan
Sweat over gentle heat in vegetable oil & butter for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally
Add water & potatoes to the saucepan
Crumble stock cube into saucepan
Bring to the boil & simmer for ½ hour
Add nettle leaves & simmer for a further 20 minutes
Blend & pass through a sieve
Season with salt & black pepper to taste
Add a splash of cream to finish (optional)

Keyword nettles, soup