Soupe aux orties

This is a good time of year to collect stinging nettle. We are here at my mom’s house in Crestline, it’s just down the hill a bit from Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear. The kids and I saw a bunch of young stinging nettle plants over by the water tank. Sylviane’s family has always collected the nettle to make soup. It has vitamins A, C, D, iron, potassium, manganese, and calcium. Lots of good food value. Here is a link to wikipedia about stinging nettle, down toward the bottom of this link it talks about the food value.

I know it seems weird. This plant that will sting you and give you a rash is so good to eat. After getting some gloves and scissors we went back and collected enough to fill half of a large paper grocery bag.

Here is the recipe that comes from Sylviane’s mom.


Bluette’s Recipe for: Soupe aux orties (Stinging Nettle soup)

Wear gloves to collect, get the young plants. Do not eat if the plant has already blossomed. We picked the ones that were 8 inches or less in height. Once back at the bus we washed the plants with water, cut off the leaves and discarded the stems. We then minced the leaves.

Chopped an onion and sauté until soft
Add about 6 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed to ½ inch, then sprinkle with a tablespoon of flour. Sauté for about a minute then add water to cover potatoes by 3 inches or so.
Season to taste (we used vegetable bouillon)

Cook until potatoes are soft.
Use a wire whisk to break up the potatoes to almost an smooth texture.

It is delicious. :)

Bill