NETTLE AND SNAIL SOUP
This should be made with spring nettles, as by July they tend to take on a laxative quality. Probably not what you want from a soup.
Servings
6
Servings
6
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. In a saucepan sweat off all your chopped vegetables and garlic in olive oil, not browning them. This moment is important, as the more you can cook the vegetables at this point, the better the flavor of the soup. When the potatoes are cooked, add the stock. Let this all simmer, familiarizing the elements.
  2. While still simmering away on the heat, add the nettles. Allow them to blanch for a moment—not long enough to lose their vivid green—then take off the heat and liquidize the lot.
  3. At this point it might have a certain rustic, fibrous nature. Do not worry—you now need to pass the soup through a fine sieve twice, as eradicating any fibre somehow spiritually defeats the nettles by removing any fear of a tingle or a sting. You now hopefully have a green, silky soup.
  4. Address your snails: pop the chopped garlic and butter into a heated frying pan. Allow for a little sizzle, then add the snails. Roll them around until piping hot, then season with salt and pepper.
  5. Bowl up the nettle soup and spoon in 4 snails per person, which should stay on the top, sitting in a buttery, garlicky puddle.