One of the things I make every year in early spring is a simple fiddlehead soup recipe with whatever wild vegetables I can find. It's loosely based on the French vegetable soup aux pistou: a vegetable soup topped with pesto. It's perfect for celebrating Spring's bounty of edible wild plants.

The traditional recipes that I'm familiar with are similar to minestrone in that it they uses a combination of vegetables, mostly from garden season: things like tomatoes, zucchini, potatoes, green beans etc. A spring version is really fun, and a different way to use ostrich ferns if you're used to sautéing them.

wild parsnips, ground venison, fiddlehead ferns and ramps

You could use many combinations of spring vegetables, but I like to try and get different flavors and textures into the mix, instead using, say, all leafy greens.

This version is 100% spring. The vegetables I used are listed below, but you could also use burdock roots, young dock leaves, or spring beauty greens. Instead of ostrich ferns you can also use lady ferns.

Wild Spring Vegetables

Fiddleheads
Spring-dug wild parsnips
Nettles
Ramp leaves and bulbs
Meat: turkey would be perfect but venison is what I had.

Ostrich fern fiddleheads from Minnesota — Fiddleheads are indispensable here since they function as a vegetable, IMO.

Pistou

Traditionally, pistou is basically a pesto without cheese. Here I use ramp leaf pesto. Feel free to use whatever is convenient for you. Stinging Nettle Pesto with pumpkinseeds would be great too.

Avoid cream

If you look online, you'll see plenty of creamy fiddlehead soup recipes. Fiddleheads don't need any heavy cream to taste good, and cream of fiddlehead soups are unappealing to me. A little onion and garlic, some meat, mushrooms or vegetables is all you need.

Fiddlehead Ferns: Identifying, Harvesting and Cooking

Ramps: Harvesting, Sustainability, Cooking and Recipes

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5 from 2 votes

Fiddlehead Soup with Vegetables and Pesto

Spring vegetable soup made with fiddleheads and spring vegetables. Feel free to substitute what you have on hand and adjust to your taste.

Prep Time15

Cook Time30

Course: Appetizer, Main Course, Soup

Cuisine: French

Keyword: Fiddleheads

Servings: People

Calories: 68kcal

Author: Alan Bergo

Cost: 5

Ingredients

3 tablespoons lard or oil
4 oz 1 cup sliced ramp bulbs and stems, or greens onions and a clove of garlic
12 oz meat or mushrooms *see note
4 oz roots like parsnips or sunchokes
½ cup dry white wine
4.5 cups vegetable broth or meat broth
2 oz fiddleheads cleaned of papery husk
2 oz mixed greens of your choice like nettles
2 oz ramp leaves chopped
½ cup ramp pesto or use your favorite pesto
Kosher salt to taste
½ cup cooked beans your choice (optional)

Instructions

Blanch the fiddleheads in boiling water for one minute, then drain and allow to cool. Reserve the fiddleheads.
Sweat the meat in the fat until cooked, then add the ramps or other onions and cook for a minute more.
Add the wine and reduce by half.
Add the stock, parsnips, beans, a pinch of salt, bring the mixture to a simmer and cook until the parsnips are tender, about 15 minutes.
Add the fiddleheads, ramp leaves and nettles, cook until the nettles are wilted.
Taste the seasoning and adjust for salt as needed, then serve in bowls garnished with spoonfuls of the ramp pistou.

Notes

For the richest broth, use small pieces of meat browned well in a pan. Ground meat works too. 12 oz of chopped fresh mushrooms can be substituted for the meat.

Nutrition