Nettle and wild garlic soup, and Rhubarb puffs with oaty toppings! – Everyone’s kitchen

After a few weeks of cooking from home, we were finally able to meet safely in the garden, harvest many greens and rhubarb, and enjoy a warm, homemade and yummy lunch by the barbeque! What’s not to like?

On the Menu today:

Nettle soup with wild garlic

Rhubarb puffs with oaty toppings

We have harvested

• Common nettles
• Wild garlic
• Celery
• Herbs (Chives, parsley, …)
• Lemon
• Rhubarb
• Mixed salad leaves to take home!

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Did you know ? Make Rhubarb Leaf Insecticide 

Cut the stems off the leaves to use in cooking or other activities, and keep the leaves for your insecticide.

Once you’ve your rhubarb leaves, you’ll need to boil them in water. Try to keep a 1:3 ratio between the leaves and water.

For instance, if you’ve got a cup of rhubarb leaves, use three cups of water. Boil the leaves in a pot for about half an hour, and allow to cool.

Next, using a strainer, remove all the leaves from the pot. Add a little liquid dish detergent, and then pour the solution into a spray bottle. That’s all there is to it!

Once you’ve made the natural insecticide plant spray, begin spraying the various plants in your yard or garden. You might want to do this spraying in mid-morning or mid-afternoon so that it doesn’t evaporate too quickly. Over time, you should start to see that insects find your plants less attractive

Nettle soup with wild garlic

Ingredients

• 100g nettle leaves (or more, it’s always good!)
• 1.5 tbsp olive oil
• 2 onions, chopped
• One hand full of wild garlic
• 2 potatoes diced
• 2 vegetable stock
• 1l water
• 1.5 tbsp lemon juice

Instructions

• Whilst wearing gloves, prepare your nettles – remove any thick stalks and wash the leaves well
• In a medium saucepan heat the olive oil, then add the chopped onion
• Fry for a few minutes until translucent
• Then add the diced potato, water and vegetable stock, wild garlic and nettle leaves and stir
• Cover the pan with a lid, and let it simmer until the potatoes are tender
• Finally, add the lemon juice and blend the soup until smooth using an immersion blender
• Salt and pepper to taste and serve with some bread and crème fraiche

Rhubarb puffs with oaty streusel topping

Ingredients x12 pastries

• 5 sticks rhubarb , cut into small pieces
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 3 tbsp plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• 5 tbsp soft brown sugar
• 2 puff pastry
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 50g rolled oats

Method

Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. In a bowl, toss the rhubarb with cinnamon, 1 tbsp flour and 2 tbsp sugar. Line a baking sheet with a piece of baking parchment. Roll out the pastry on a floured surface to approx 20 x 30cm, then cut into 6 squares and place on the sheet.

Rub together the remaining flour, sugar, butter and oats to make a rough crumble mixture.

Divide the rhubarb between the pastry quarters, leaving a 1cm rim. Sprinkle the oat mixture over, then fold and pinch each corner to keep the filling in. Bake for 20-25 mins, then serve warm.