Nettle and wild garlic bread — old recipe, new spring

Spring is a special time of year: nature awakens and plants enter their first growth phase, when they are richest in vitamins and trace elements. They are also most suitable for consumption at this time, as they later become coarser and build up resistance to pests. I should mention that wild plants should not be consumed in too large quantities — rather as a supplement to the diet. Cultivated plants have been selected by humans for thousands of years to give us what suits us best.

Nettle in nature — young spring shoots — Nettle in spring — young shoots full of vitamins

Nettle — a plant we underestimate

Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica L.) — also known as common nettle, great nettle, or stinging nettle — is a perennial plant that can grow up to 150 cm tall. It has a branched, creeping rhizome and an upright, four-sided, hairy stem. The leaves are opposite, stalked, grey-green, elongated oval, with a pointed tip, heart-shaped at the base, coarsely serrated at the edges, and covered on both sides with soft, short hairs. The stem and leaves are also covered with longer, brittle stinging hairs that break off at the slightest touch and penetrate the skin, releasing a toxic fluid that causes redness and blisters. The plant is dioecious and blooms with inconspicuous, greenish flower clusters that develop in the leaf axils from June to September.

Nettle grows as a well-known, unwanted weed, and is widely distributed across almost the entire world. We find it along fences, around settlements, along roads, in moist forests and groves, in gardens and abandoned places. It also grows in high mountains. It often appears in large numbers, especially on nitrogen-rich, ruderal soil.

Picking nettle — hand picking young shoots — Picking nettle — we take the tips with 4–6 leaves

Nutritional value and medicinal properties

The nutritional value of nettle was already known to the ancient Egyptians, who cultivated it as a vegetable. Greeks and Romans also ate it frequently and valued it. Hippocrates and Horace mention it, and Pliny writes that young nettle in spring provides good and healthy food that protects against disease throughout the year. Even today, many European peoples eat nettle, although the plant is rarely cultivated. In Switzerland it is sold widely at markets in spring.

Nettle is considered one of the most useful, healthiest and most accessible leafy vegetables due to its widespread availability, nutritional value and vitamin content. The plant contains about 5.5% protein, 7% carbohydrates, 0.7% fat, and plenty of calcium, phosphorus, iron and silicic acid. Nettle leaves also contain substances that have a beneficial effect on gastric secretion. During the spring months, the vitamin C content in the young plant ranges from 75 to 140 mg%. Young leaves simultaneously contain up to 20 mg% carotene. Nettle is therefore a richer source of vitamins C and A than most cultivated vegetables. In addition, the plant contains vitamins K, B₂ and pantothenic acid, making nettle a kind of natural multivitamin concentrate.

Young nettle in nature — Young nettle — picked from late February to May

Lungwort — an interesting encounter

In the photos there is also another interesting plant: lungwort (Pulmonaria officinalis). It is recognisable by its spotted leaves and by the fact that it has flowers of different colours on the same stem — from pink to purple. An excellent plant for tea, it is mucilaginous and used for respiratory problems. We often pick it and dry it for tea.

Lungwort (Pulmonaria officinalis) — spotted leaves, purple flowers — Lungwort (*Pulmonaria officinalis*) — recognisable by its spotted leaves and flowers of different colours on the same plant

Picking nettle and wild garlic

At this time of year I love using some of the gifts that nature offers and that are easily available. The other day I picked nettle and wild garlic and decided to make bread that I used to eat at the Vagabundo tavern, which served it at this time of year. Both nettle and wild garlic are picked before flowering and always far from busy roads or any source of pollution.

I picked the tips of young nettle. There are several varieties, and people mostly distinguish them by which one stings on contact and which does not. The nettle recommended for food is the stinging one — common nettle (Urtica dioica), with no colourful flowers, which stings strongly if you handle it carelessly. Usually the tip with 4–6 leaves below is picked. I recommend light gloves, although my wife and I pick with bare hands — but with very gentle movements. It stings a little, but nothing serious once you get used to it.

Young nettle in spring — Lungwort (Pulmonaria officinalis) — spotted leaves and flowers of different colours on the same plant

Nettle, just like wild garlic, is an excellent addition to stews, soups, can be mixed with chard, spinach, cabbage, and unlike wild garlic it can also be dried for tea.

Preparing the bread — step by step

I put the picked nettle tips and wild garlic in a bowl and washed them well. I heated a pot of water and briefly blanched them together, then drained them well and chopped them finely. I mixed dry yeast and water with a few grams of sugar to activate the yeast. When it had formed a foamy cap, I mixed it into a blend of corn flour and plain flour in a 1:1 ratio. In total I added 650 ml of water. I let the mixture rise for 2–3 hours. After that I added the chopped mixture of nettle and wild garlic, 1% salt (10 grams per kilo of flour) and a little olive oil. I let the mixture rise for another 1 hour. Temperature is important and yeast ferments best at around body temperature — 35–40°C.

Nettle and wild garlic in a bowl of water — washing — Nettle and wild garlic — washing in cold water

Blanching nettle and wild garlic — Mixing dough — cornmeal and plain flour in a 1:1 ratio

Dough rising — After blanching — nettle softens

Adding nettle to the dough — Drained blanched nettle — bright green, softened

Finely chopped nettle and wild garlic — ready to add to the dough

Dough in the baking tin — Dough with chopped nettle and wild garlic — mix well

Adding olive oil to the dough — for flavour and texture

Nettle bread in the oven — Dough in the tin — ready to prove and bake

Nettle bread in the oven — start — Bread in the oven — start of baking at 200°C

Nettle bread in the oven — golden crust — Bread in the oven — golden-brown crust forming

Freshly baked nettle bread — Freshly baked bread — just out of the oven

Nettle bread on cutting board — Nettle and wild garlic bread — on the cutting board

Finished nettle bread — Golden crust with visible green pieces of nettle

Sliced nettle bread — Cross-section of the bread — pieces of nettle and wild garlic

Nettle bread — finished and served — Finished nettle and wild garlic bread — green hues in the dough

I poured the dough into baking tins and placed it in the already preheated oven and baked it for about 1 hour at 200°C. The baking tins should be well greased so the bread comes out more easily, or even better use baking paper.

Ingredients

500 g corn flour
500 g plain flour
1 sachet dry yeast
650 ml water
10 g salt
100 g mixture of nettle and wild garlic (blanched and chopped)
30 ml extra virgin olive oil

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