Home of edible weed walks in Melbourne, and the publication:
The Weed Forager's Handbook: A Guide to Edible and Medicinal Weeds in Australia

Tag: nettle

Hortopita (Weedy Spanakopita)

Makes 8 small slices

About 10 cups chopped fresh weeds such as dandelion, fat hen, mallow, nettle and sow thistle
1 cup of oxalis leaves if they are in season. If not, use French sorrel or add a squeeze of lemon juice to the greens while they are cooking.
1 cup finely sliced leek
¾ cup finely chopped angle onion if it is in season. If not, use spring onion.
2-3 tablespoons finely chopped fennel
2-3 tablespoons finely chopped mint
120 grams crumbled Greek feta
1 egg
Salt and pepper
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
6 sheets of filo pastry
1-2 teaspoons sesame seeds or poppy seeds

1. Preheat oven to 180° C.
2. Wash and chop all the greens and dry them well.
3. Heat one or two teaspoons of the oil in a big pot on low heat. Add the greens and stir until wilted and any liquid has evaporated. Place them in a colander to drain and cool.
4. Cook the leeks in the pan with a drizzle of oil until they are soft.
5. Squeeze the liquids out of the greens with your hands (you can keep these to use as stock if you like). Put the greens in a large bowl, and add in the cooked leeks.
6. In a small bowl beat the egg. Then add the crumbled feta and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Add to the greens and mix well.
7. Brush a baking dish that’s about 20cm x 20cm with olive oil.
8. Unfold a sheet of filo pastry and cut it in half. Place it in the baking dish. You’ll need to scrunch it a bit to make it fit – which is a good thing because it gives the layers their crunchy texture. Keep adding sheets of pastry, brushing oil onto each sheet as you go. Stop when you have six sheets.
9. Empty the greens mixture into the baking dish, and spread it evenly over the pastry.
10. Cover the greens with 6 more layers of filo pastry using the same technique as before. After placing the last pastry sheet, brush it with oil, and sprinkle it with a little bit of water and the sesame or poppy seeds
11. Using a knife, cut partly into the top filo layers to mark out eight pieces. Don’t cut all the way through!
12. Bake in the bottom half of the oven for about 35 minutes. Then move it to the floor of the oven for another 10 minutes to get the crust really crunchy.

The Greek word for spinach is spanaki (σπανάκι) and hortopita’s more famous cousin spanakopita simply means ‘spinach pie’. The Greek for mixed (usually wild) greens is horta (χόρτα) and so hortopita just means ‘wild weeds pie’.

This recipe is for a small pie. If you want leftovers, double the quantities and use a dish of about 30cm x 50cm, as this will fit a whole sheet of filo pastry. The flavours of the wild greens are fabulously strong in this recipe, but you can find a milder, more kid-friendly version in our upcoming kids’ foraging book (along with lots of other weedy recipes for kids to try).

Nettle Saag Paneer

Serves 2

2 cups of blanched nettle (approx. 1 huge bunch fresh)
2 tablespoons coconut or vegetable oil
1 teaspoon turmeric
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon salt
pepper
200 g paneer cheese cut into 2 cm cubes
A medium onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 heaped tablespoon fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1 large green chilli, finely chopped – serrano is the classic; remove the seeds if you want less heat
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon garam masala
½ cup coconut cream

1.     Using a glove one hand and scissors in the other, chop the leaves and tips off the nettle stalks (thin young stems are fine to keep). Put the nettle in a bowl and pour in enough boiling water to cover them, give them a stir for 30 seconds, then drain (reserve a little of this ‘nettle tea’ to add back in later). Pour cold water over the nettle to refresh, then drain again. Chop finely.

2.     Pre-chop the onion, garlic, ginger and chilli.
3.     Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed pan along with the cayenne, turmeric and salt, and fry the paneer briefly until golden on all sides. Remove the paneer from the oil.
4.     Add the onion, garlic, ginger and chilli into the hot oil in the pan. Fry gently until deep caramel-brown, stirring all the while, and adding a drizzle of your reserved nettle tea as needed when the pan becomes too dry. Add the garam masala, cumin, and coriander, and stir until the smell becomes harmonious.
5.     Add in the nettle and coconut cream and cook gently for a further 5 minutes.
6.     Add the paneer cubes back into the saag for a final warming, and serve on basmati rice or naan bread with a dollop of yoghurt (the rice shown here is made with lightly toasted mustard seeds and shredded coconut).

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