Nettle soup with poached egg and pancetta

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Vibrant, nourishing and full of the fresh, bright flavours of nettle leaves, this soup is enriched with a silky poached egg and shards of salty crisp pancetta. Well worth the time it takes to venture out and collect a bag of nettles to cook with (just don't forget your gloves).

First published in 2021

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Equipment

  • Hand blender

Method

1
Add the onion, celery, fennel, potato and garlic to a large saucepan along with the butter (or olive oil). Place the pan over a medium heat and cook for 5 minutes, then as soon as they start to cook through and sizzle cover with water and bring to a simmer, continuing to cook until the vegetables are tender
2
Meanwhile, place another pan of water over a medium heat and bring to the boi. Blanch the nettles for 30 seconds, then drain and refresh in iced water
  • 500g of nettles, washed and dried
3
Once the vegetables are tender, stir in the spinach and nettle leaves and season. Use a stick blender to blitz until silken, then pass through a fine sieve and set aside
4
Place a frying pan over a medium heat and fry the pancetta slices until crisp, then drain on kitchen paper
5
Bring a small pan of water with a dash of white wine vinegar to a simmer. Gently crack each egg into a cup and tip it into the water. Poach for 3 minutes, then gently lift them out and drain on kitchen paper
  • 1 dash of white wine vinegar
  • 4 eggs
6
To serve, ladle the soup into warmed serving bowls. Float a poached egg in the centre and lay a few shards of pancetta next to it. Dress with olive oil and a crack of pepper
  • olive oil, for drizzling
First published in 2021

After learning the culinary ropes at Jeremy Lee's legendary Quo Vadis in London, Charlie Hibbert now heads up the beautiful Ox Barn restaurant at Thyme, a vast country retreat with beautiful homegrown produce on the doorstep.

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