When I was growing up in the small village of Talaván in Extremadura, Spain, we never ate nettles. They were wild plants that grew along the edges of the fields, and the sort you tried to avoid: like many children, I learned about them the hard way, brushing against them while playing and getting stung. It was only when I came to the UK that I first saw nettles used in cooking, which surprised me: suddenly, this wild plant had a place in the kitchen. Now, whenever I visit my mum, Isabel, I see them everywhere. It makes me smile to think that at this year’s Chelsea flower show I will be cooking among a world of magnificent plants and gardens. Perhaps not too many nettles on show, but who knows?
Nettle and goat’s cheese tortilla
Prep 10 min
Cook 25 min
Serves 6
500g new potatoes, cut into 3mm-thick slices (about the width of a £1 coin)
175ml olive oil
150g nettle leaves (young ones, ideally), or wild garlic leaves
6 large eggs
Sea salt and black pepper
100g soft goat’s cheese, crumbled
2 tbsp chopped chives
Put the sliced potatoes and oil in an 18cm nonstick pan and cook gently for five or six minutes, until the potatoes are tender to the point of a knife. Lift out the potatoes with a slotted spoon and pour the oil into a jug.
Meanwhile, blanch the nettles (or wild garlic) in boiling water for 30 seconds, then drain, refresh under cold water and drain again. Once they’re cool enough to handle, roughly chop the leaves.
Beat the eggs in a large jug, season generously, then add the warm potatoes and chopped greens. Mix well, then stir in the goat’s cheese and chives.
Pour two tablespoons of the reserved oil back into the pan and put it on a medium-low heat. Add the egg mixture and leave to cook gently for six to eight minutes, until the tortilla is just set round the edges but still quite juicy in the centre.
Run a spatula around the outside to loosen, put a flat plate over the top of the pan and flip the tortilla on to the plate. Quickly but carefully slide it back into the pan uncooked side down, and use the spatula to tuck the edges in and under the sides, to give it that lovely, rounded, traditional tortilla shape.
Leave to cook for another two to three minutes, then slide out on to a clean serving plate, slice and serve, perhaps with a sharp green salad.