This is a wild food recipe for something called Nettle Pudding. You could think of it as a vegetarian version of Black Pudding - it's ideal for slicing and frying to form the hearty centre of a cooked breakfast, or it can be sliced thinly and used in sandwiches.
You'll need a food processor to make this.
The Recipe
Ingredients:
- A colander-full of fresh nettle tops
- 100g Rolled oats
- 1 large onion
- 75g Self-raising flour
- 1 Egg
- 1 Small bunch fresh parsley
- 1 Teaspoon dried mixed herbs (sage, thyme, rosemary)
- Half teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
- Half teaspoon paprika
- Half teaspoon ground black or white pepper
- Pinch of salt
Method:
You'll notice that the ingredients here - particularly the spices - are the same as you might use for making sausages, meatloaf or even haggis - and that's no coincidence - Nettle Pudding fills the same kind of space on the plate as those things, except without the meat
I'm not a vegetarian myself - and in fact, I love a bit of Black Pudding, however, I think Nettle Pudding stands up pretty well in this role.
Peel the onion and chop it in the food processor with the parsley (I didn't have any parsley to hand, so I substituted Ground Elder, which I found growing alongside my nettles.
Wash the nettles thorougly under running water, then put them in a pan of alread-boiling water..
Cook for just a few minutes - long enough to wilt and soften the nettles (and eliminate their stings), but leaving them still fresh green in colour.
Drain them in a colander and allow to cool enough to handle. Press the nettles in the colander with the back of a spoon to expel some of the water, but don't wring them out completely.
Put the nettles into the food processor with all the other ingredients and blend until a coarse doughy paste is formed.
The texture should be thick and sticky - almost thick enough to roll up and knead - test this by taking a generous spoonful and holding it upside down - if it stretches and falls off, add another handful of oats and blend again for a moment.
Put the mixture into a heatproof pudding basin - pick one that's big enough to allow the pudding to expand at the top.
Greasing the basin with butter or vegerable oil, then dusting with flour before adding the pudding mix should prevent the pudding from sticking in the bowl when it's cooked.
Cover the basin with a layer of greaseproof paper or parchement, then a layer of foil. Tie this tightly in place with cotton or hemp string. A pleat in the foil/paper allows it to expand if necessary.
Stand the basin in a metal tray of water and place in the oven (170C) for 45 minutes.
Allow to cool a little before handling. Remove the covering and turn the pudding out onto a plate.
Leave to cool futher, then slice thickly - about half an inch - for frying (or leave to go completely cold and it will become firm enough to slice thinly to be used as sandwich filling).
Fry the slices for 5 minutes each side, or until browned and crispy.
As I mentioned above, this dish is substantial and satisfying enough to form the centre of a meat-free fryup (and I say this as an omnivore with quite a penchant for sausages and bacon).
