Today was a great day despite the cold, rain, and occasional hail. The day started with a lot of sun and found us harvesting the first round of nettles that are growing in abundance at the farm.
Nettles are a super-food with an impressive nutrient profile (and they’re yummy). They are packed with calcium, protein, magnesium, a huge amount of vitamin A, iron, and have been used to treat an array of health conditions for thousands of years.
But one of the best uses I’ve found for nettles is pizza, which I am making tonight while it hails.
Wild Nettle Pizza
Pizza dough separated into 4 6ounce balls 4T Roast garlic puree 1t Crushed red pepper flakes2T Pecorino
4oz Mozzarella, grated
4oz Provolone, grated
40z Fontina, grated
1LB Wild nettles, (leaves picked from stem)
Fresh thyme (leaves only)
3T semolina flour
Tt salt and pepper
Tt olive oil
Preheat oven to 500 F with a pizza stone on the bottom rack. Blanch Nettles in salted boiling water for 1 minute, drain and plunge into an ice bath. Wring excess water from nettles and reserve.
Mix mozzarella, fontina and provolone together and set aside. Sprinkle the area you will be rolling the dough with semolina and roll the pizza dough into 4 thin rounds. Spread dough with roast garlic puree, sprinkle with salt, crushed red pepper and pepper. Sprinkle with pecorino and then thyme. Roughly chop nettles and sprinkle ¼ onto each pie. Top with your pizza cheese. Slide the pizza onto the stone in your oven and bake until the edges are lightly browned and crispy. Should take about 5-6 minutes, remove and add the next pie. Slice with a pizza wheel into 6 or 8 slices. Drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil.
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