Chicken Nettle Soup with Sorrel
Last week someone asked for some nettle recipes. And although I replied I didn't like them and I didn't cook them, I took it as a challenge. I tried to cook nettles in a way that my family and I would eat, especially since they bring a lot of vitamins.
I started to improvise this soup knowing that I didn't like nettles at all and I was prepared to throw it away, if anything. But I was very surprised by its taste, the strong specific smell of nettles was gone and the soup was delicious. We all ate it with appetite. It was sour and the herbs made it taste like a great spring soup.
As a vegan option - don't put meat, omit the egg thing and you'll have a delicious fasting soup. If you don't have sorrel, you can replace with other greens.
First we prepare the base for the soup:
1. In the version with chicken - bring to the boil the chicken together with the carrots, peppers, 1 onion, parsley, celery and the bay leaf. Put them all whole, cook until they release the taste, then remove. When they start to boil, turn down the heat and simmer for an hour. Skim off the foam.
2. In the fasting version - skip the meat, put only the vegetables and the bay leaf, let simmer for an hour.
Meanwhile, we prepare the nettles (use spring nettles, tender and raw):
- Remove the dirt and rinse under running water. Use protective gloves not to sting your hands.
- Then blanch them for 2 minutes in a pot with boiling water.
- Place in a colander, rinse with cold water and let drain.
- Finely chop the nettles - now they are ready to be cooked, in a soup or any other food.
After one hour, remove the vegetables from the soup.
If you want bits of vegetables in your soup, chop and put them back. I wanted the herbs to be predominant, so I removed the vegetables.
Add diced potatoes and the rice, washed. Bring to a boil over high heat, then turn the heat down and simmer for 15 minutes.
Now add the nettles and the sorrel - washed and chopped.
Let boil for another 10 minutes over low heat.
Season with salt. Pour borsch or lemon juice to get the sour taste.
Simmer for another 2 minutes.
Beat an egg with a fork and drop it slowly into the pot, mixing quickly at the same time, to get nice egg drops :)
In the fasting version, skip this step.
Add the finely chopped parsley and a small onion, finely chopped as well.
When it comes to the boil, turn off the heat. Let sit, covered with a lid, for 15 minutes, allowing to infuse.
We served it with a dollop of yogurt. It was very good, I really recommend it!
Enjoy!
