Spring is upon us and this is the best time to harvest and eat Nettle. Yes, nettles, those plants covered with tiny stinging hairs that produce an intense, stinging pain… ouch! Creamed nettles are a very popular and healthy dish during spring time in Romania. Nettles have the richest taste and are full of vitamins A, C and D, and minerals Iron, Potassium, Calcium and Manganese. Since in downtown Toronto would be kind of hard to find nettles growing wild 🙂 and you can’t really find them at the grocery stores, I have decided to substitute nettles for spinach which is quite delicious and healthy as well. BTW I despised this kind of food as a kid or, better said, anything that looked green. This is a classic recipe that is extremely easy to make. We usually eat this with sunny side up eggs and polenta and believe me, this combination makes for a really filling and nutritious meal.
Time: 35 min, Prep: 15 min. Cook: 20 min.
Servings: 6
Ingredients:
- 1 kg fresh spinach, thoroughly washed (or use nettles if you have)
- 80 g butter
- 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
- 400 ml milk
- 1 onion
- 4-5 garlic cloves
- Salt
Preparation:
Add the fresh spinach in a large pot of boiling salted water and cook for 20 minutes. Drain and finely chop the spinach or process it in a food processor.
Finely chop the onion and garlic.
Melt the butter in a pan over medium-high heat and cook the onion and garlic for about 3-4 minutes.
Add the flour and cook for 1 minute stirring continuously.
Stir in the milk and simmer 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
Stir the mashed spinach into the white sauce and season with salt.
As mentioned before, this dish is delicious when served with sunny side up eggs and polenta.
