Ukraine has been on everyone’s mind lately, so I thought it would be appropriate to dive into their national dish: Borscht (or maybe it’s Borshch?). As random as it might sound, borscht is something I’ve read about a fair amount about, as the famous tart stew of beets (and all its variations) are inextricably connected…
Soup
Zuppa Ortiche (Italian Nettle Soup)
Common stinging nettles are one of the most widely eaten wild plants around the world, and all it takes to unlock some new ideas for cooking with them is often a name, in the case of this Italian Nettle soup recipe, that’s the word ortiche, an obvious cousin to the Latin name Urtica. Do a…
Pasta Fagioli Soup with Nettle Pesto
Of all the Italian soups I was taught to make, pasta fagioli will always be one of my favorites. Adding common stinging nettles instead of the lacinato kale we would typically use, is a great way to sneak in some of your foraged greens. If you’re one of the people who enjoy wood nettles as…
Classic Stinging Nettle Soup
Stinging nettles are one of the finest wild greens you can use to make soup, and there’s plenty of recipes out there. Some are good, some are ok. Most of the ones I’ve tried have tasted mostly of potatoes. This one is the strongest tasting nettle soup recipes I know of, and it’s my version…
Nettle Soup with Pickled Chanterelles and Ramp Butter
A few years ago I had the pleasure of having dinner at my friend, Author and food writer Stephen Hoffman’s house. We started the dinner with the visual and interactive French classic eclade de moules (mussels cooked in pine needles) moved onto a nice salad with anchovy dressing, and a dish of slow-cooked halibut with…
Chicken Soup with Galinsoga (Ajiaco con Guascas)
Ajiaco, a stew of multiple types of various potatoes, poultry, and corn, is a famous Latin American dish probably best known around the world as being Colombian, although there are different permutations enjoyed in different places, like Peru and Cuba, to name a few, each with slight variations. A riff on the Colombian version is…
Pheasant Back-Spring Vegetable Soup
Here’s a great recipe to celebrate some of the young growing plants of spring: a simple, brothy soup made from green garlic or wild onions, pheasant back mushrooms, a spring shoot/vegetable of your choice (I used fiddleheads and elm samaras) wild rice or another grain, and a little meat broth or whatever you have on…
Nettle Soup with Ham from Extramadura
I’ve been in love with researching traditional uses of nettles around the world, and soup is one of the standbys that seem to be omnipresent wherever nettles are eaten. This delicious Spanish nettle soup scented with Jamon Serrano and thickened with cornmeal is a bit different than others I’ve come across, and can make for…
