POTATO, LEEK & NETTLE SOUP

This winter has been very very wet. My wife and I have a big announcement that we are having a baby boy in December! She has had a big craving of potato and leek soup thanks to having it at one of our favorite restaurants in Perth Bistro des Artistes. This blog post will have two recipes, one for the potato and leek which was for my pregnant wife and the other with the stinging nettles which was for me. I have always wanted to cook with nettles and I managed to come across a post by Macabee Dorper Lamb offering to sell their unique ingredient. There is only one disclaimer, make sure you use gloves to handle the nettles and you can steam or blanch (which is what I did) to take the sting away.

INGREDIENTS

POTATO & LEEK SOUP

• 50g Unsalted Butter
• 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 1kg Potatoes, Peeled, Cut into 1cm Cubes
• 1 leek, Cut in Half, Washed Well, Finely Sliced
• 1 Brown Onion, Peeled, Finely Chopped
• 5 Cloves Garlic, Minced
• 1L Chicken Stock
• Sea Salt and Ground White Pepper
• 2 Tbsp Flat-Leaf Parsley, Finely Shredded, For Garnish

POTATO LEEK & NETTLE SOUP

• Large Bunch of Stinging Nettles

METHOD

1. To remove the sting from the nettles, blanch them in boiling water with a little bit of salt for about 5 minutes. You will need to wear gloves when harvesting and handling them before putting into the boiling water. Strain, leave to cool and squeeze as much water as you can out of them.

2. Heat the butter and oil in a large heavy-based pan. Add the potatoes, leek, onion and garlic and cook on a low heat, stirring frequently until the leeks have softened.

3. Pour in the stock and simmer covered, for about 25 minutes or until potatoes are very tender. At this point if you have nettles tip them into the soup. Purée the soup with a hand blender until smooth. Season to taste. You can add more chicken stock at this point  to get the right consistency of soup you desire.

4. Ladle into soup bowls, garnish with parsley and, if desired and being truffle season when I made this grated truffle. Serve with a slice of toasted crusty bread.

You can contact the lovely people down at Macabee through their Facebook and arrange for pickup at the Subiaco Farmers Market.