Seasonal veg - nettle soup

The next time you weed a bed of nettles, crop them instead, well the tips anyway – they’re a surprisingly tasty, free and vitamin-packed fresh vegetable.  They’re also excellent for boosting your immune system - so important at the moment.  You can steam them or make them into a tea.  Or try this delicious, nutritious soup:

Fry a chopped onion, a garlic clove or two and two celery sticks in a knob of butter until softened.  Add one chopped potato, a litre of chicken or vegetable stock and salt and pepper.  When the potato has softened, after round 10 minutes, add your nettle leaves (around 400g) stirring them into the stock as they wilt, and simmer for 5 minutes or so, until the nettles are tender.  Season your soup with plenty of salt and pepper.  Blend and serve with a dollop of cream or yoghurt and a sprinkling of snipped chives.  Weeding, shopping and cooking in one fell swoop!