There's a short window each spring — somewhere between the first proper warmth of the year and the moment the bluebells take over — when the nettles in the hedgerows are at their tender best. Soft, green, and full of mineral flavour, they ask very little of the cook and give back a great deal. This quiche is our favourite way to mark that moment.
If foraging nettles feels like a step too far, or nettle soup sounds like too much of a commitment, this is the recipe to start with. The nettles are folded gently through a filling of our own goats curd and a generous crumble of goats feta, where their flavour stays subtle — grassy, faintly lemony, more spring meadow than wild green. Paired with the slight tang of fresh goats milk cheese, it's the sort of thing that tastes like the field it came from.
A small note before you head out: a sturdy pair of gardening gloves and a pair of sharp scissors are non-negotiable. Pick only the top few leaves of each stem (the tender ones), choose somewhere set back from roads and field spraying, and avoid anywhere a dog might have visited. The sting itself is easily dealt with — a quick blanch in boiling water breaks down the formic acid responsible (it splits into carbon dioxide and hydrogen, since you asked), and the leaves become as friendly as spinach.
This makes one small 20cm quiche, perfect with a handful of pea shoots and a glass of something cold. It keeps well for a day or two in the fridge, though in our experience it rarely lasts that long.
Ingredients
For the shortcrust pastry
- 50g butter
- 25g lard
- 150g plain flour
- Cold water to mix
- 1 egg, beaten, for brushing
For the filling
- 60g foraged nettles, destalked (dry weight)
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 72g pack prosciutto
- 1 onion, finely sliced
- 3 eggs, beaten
- 250g goats curd (or soft goats cheese)
- 100g goats feta, crumbled
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the topping (optional but worth it)
- A scattering of sunflower seeds
- A few whole blanched nettle leaves
- Dried edible flowers
You'll need: a 20cm loose-bottomed tin, a rolling pin, baking parchment and baking beans.
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200°C fan (220°C non-fan). Head out and forage your nettles, wearing gloves throughout. Snip only the top few leaves from each stem, choosing a spot well away from roads and farmland that may have been sprayed.
- Still gloved, strip the leaves from the stalks until you have 60g, then rinse them well in cold water.
- Blanch the leaves a spoonful at a time in a pan of boiling water — keep the water at a rolling boil between batches. Thirty seconds is plenty; you're only neutralising the sting. Lift them out with a slotted spoon onto kitchen paper and press out as much water as you can. Set aside five or six of the prettiest whole leaves to decorate the top, spread flat to keep their shape.
- For the pastry, rub the butter and lard into the flour until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add cold water a tablespoon at a time (start with four) until a soft dough forms. Wrap and rest in the fridge for 10 minutes, then roll out on a lightly floured surface and line the tin. Leave the overhang for now — it's easier to trim once baked. Line with parchment and fill with baking beans.
- Blind bake for 15 minutes at 200°C fan, then remove the beans, prick the base with a fork, and bake for another 5 minutes. Brush the base and sides with beaten egg and return to the oven for a final 8 minutes, until lightly golden. Turn the oven down to 160°C fan (180°C non-fan).
- Blitz 80% of your blanched nettles with the lemon zest using a food processor or hand blender. Tear the prosciutto into small pieces and crisp it in a little olive oil in a pan, then lift out and soften the onion in the same pan until pale gold.
- Combine the prosciutto, onion and nettle-lemon mixture and press lightly but firmly into the base of the pastry case.
- Blitz the remaining nettles and stir them through the beaten eggs along with the goats curd and crumbled goats feta. Season generously with salt and pepper — goats cheese loves both.
- Pour the filling over the nettle base and bake at 160°C fan for around 40 minutes, until just set with a gentle wobble at the centre.
- Let it cool a little in the tin before releasing. A potato peeler is the gentlest way to trim the pastry overhang. Allow to cool fully before slicing — it'll firm up beautifully as it rests.
- Decorate with the reserved nettle leaves, a scatter of sunflower seeds, and a pinch of dried edible flowers. Serve with bright green pea shoots, dressed simply.
Adapted with thanks from Anna Harri's original Quidhampton Nettle Quiche — annaharribakes.com. We've swapped the ricotta and feta for our own goats curd and goats feta, which carry the nettle flavour beautifully.