• Menu
  • Skip to left header navigation
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Eat Sleep Wild

  • Guides
  • Recipes
    • Breakfasts
    • Main Dishes
    • Desserts
    • Hiking Snacks
    • Dehydrated Camping Food
    • Campfire Recipes
    • Wild Food Recipes
  • Trip Reports
    • Dartmoor
    • Brecon Beacons
    • Snowdonia
    • Wales
    • Scotland
    • Cotswolds
    • Abroad
  • Reviews
  • Shop
    • Trail Meals
    • Basecamp Essentials
  • Events
  • About
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Guides
  • Recipes
    • Breakfasts
    • Main Dishes
    • Desserts
    • Hiking Snacks
    • Dehydrated Camping Food
    • Campfire Recipes
    • Wild Food Recipes
  • Trip Reports
    • Dartmoor
    • Brecon Beacons
    • Snowdonia
    • Wales
    • Scotland
    • Cotswolds
    • Abroad
  • Reviews
  • Shop
    • Trail Meals
    • Basecamp Essentials
  • Events
  • About
  • Blog
  • Contact
Nettle spanakopita recipe

Nettle Spanakopita

Nettle spanakopita recipe

20/03/2019 //  by Monica Shaw//  4 Comments

One of my favourite all time uses for foraged nettles is this recipe for nettle spanakopita. This Greek filo pie is traditionally made with spinach, but we’ve used nettles which work amazingly well here.

To make this spanakopita you’ll need quite a lot of nettles, so involve your friends in the picking if you can, or use a mix of nettles, spinach, and/or wild garlic.

I’ve successfully made an awesome vegan nettle spanakopita using baked almond feta in place of the dairy feta, and olive oil for coating the filo pastry sheets.

Foraged nettles for nettle spanakopita

This recipe is inspired by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s nettle recipes.

Nettle spanakopita recipe
Print Pin

Nettle spanakopita

Course Main Course
Keyword foraged food, nettles
Servings 4

Ingredients

  • Around 300g young nettle tops
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 large onion peeled and finely sliced
  • 1 tsp thyme leaves
  • 100 g crumbled feta
  • 35 g pine nuts toasted
  • A squeeze of lemon juice
  • Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 2 eggs lightly beaten
  • 250 g filo pastry
  • 75 g unsalted butter melted

Instructions

  • Heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. With gloved hands, pick over the nettles and wash thoroughly. Discard the tougher stalks keeping only the leaves. Bring a large pan of well-salted water to boiling point and throw in the nettle tops. Bring back to a boil, blanch for a couple of minutes, then drain in a colander. When the nettles are cool enough to handle, squeeze to extract as much water as possible, then chop finely.
  • Meanwhile, heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the cumin, cook for a minute or two, then add the onion and sauté for five to 10 minutes, until soft and golden. Add the thyme. Combine the squeezed nettles with the onion mixture, then gently fold in the cheese and pine nuts. Season with a squeeze of lemon and plenty of salt and pepper, then stir in the egg.
  • Brush a sheet of filo pastry with melted butter and lay it butter side down in a smallish, 1.5-litre ovenproof dish. Let any excess pastry hang over the ends. Lay another buttered filo sheet on top and repeat until you've used all but one sheet of filo. Spread the nettle mixture in the dish, fold over the overhanging pastry ends to enclose, dabbing with more melted butter to keep it together. Take the final sheet of pastry, crumple it lightly, and place on top, tucking in the edges around the side – this will give the top of the pie a nicely textured finish. Dab more butter on top, bake for 30-35 minutes, or until golden, and serve immediately.

Share this post:

TwitterFacebookPinterestLinkedInE-mail

Category: Recipes, Wild Food RecipesTag: foraged food, nettles, vegetarian

Sign up to receive latest posts by email

Privacy Policy
Previous Post: « Campfire Flatbread Cooked on the Coals
Next Post: Fan y Big Circular from Blaen-y-Glyn »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Coryn Bye

    04/04/2020 at 7:48 pm

    Just made this, used puff pastry and cashew nuts. Really nice, love the mixture of flavours.

    Reply
    • Monica Shaw

      04/04/2020 at 9:15 pm

      So glad to hear it! I like your twist – I bet cashews are delightful with this!

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Dandelion Jam Recipe - Eat Sleep Wild says:
    10/04/2020 at 2:10 pm

    […] dandelions, grab your glove and pick some nettles while you’re at it to make this amazing nettle spanakopita, another springtime foraging […]

    Reply
  2. Chickpea Nettle Burgers - Eat Sleep Wild says:
    22/09/2020 at 6:03 pm

    […] add to my lexicon of favourite nettle recipes (which also includes nettle pesto, nettle pizza, and nettle spanakopita!). These burgers are mega tasty, super nutritious, and easy to make with a food processor. The […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Shop Trail Meals

trail meals

Shop our range of vegetarian and vegan dehydrated meals, perfect for backpacking and wild camping. All lovingly made by hand in my small batch kitchen in the Cotswolds. Shop now.

Follow our journey

  • E-mail
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Search

Sign up to receive latest posts by email

Privacy Policy

Topics

  • Guides
  • Monica's Field Notes
  • Recipes
    • Campfire Recipes
    • Camping Breakfasts
    • Camping Desserts
    • Dehydrated Camping Food
    • Hiking Snacks
    • Main Dishes
    • Wild Camping Food
    • Wild Food Recipes
  • Reviews
    • Gear Reviews
  • Trip Reports
    • Brecon Beacons
    • Cotswolds
    • Dartmoor
    • Scotland
    • Snowdonia
    • Wales
    • Wild Trips Abroad

Footer

Building embers... a bit more patience required th Building embers... a bit more patience required this time of year to build a fire suitable for cooking but the joy is in the doing. My kind of winter meditation.
Out early this morning to make the first footprint Out early this morning to make the first footprints (and paw prints) on the reserve. #wiltshire #wiltshirewildlifetrust #snowday #wiltshirelife #cotswolds #cotswoldlife #cotswold #countryside #countrylife #countryliving #britishwildlife #britishcountryside #walking #dogwalk #hikingadventures #hikinguk #hikingwithdogs #hikersofinstagram
Sunrise walk with the hound. Having lived here for Sunrise walk with the hound. Having lived here for over 10 years now (how did that happen?) I still feel enormous gratitude for having this at my back door, especially in current circumstances. I’ve been making plans for my next move but for now it’s all about being grateful for what I have right now. #sunrise #wiltshire #dogwalk #frost #winterwalks
.
.
.
#cotswolds #cotswoldslife #cotswoldlife #countryside #countrysidewalks #wiltshirewalks #wiltshirewildlife #wiltswildlifetrust #clattingerfarm #terrier #dogoftheday #walkingwithmydog #britishcountryside #hikersuk #ukhikers #getoutside
Busy times at ESW HQ restocking after a busy Chris Busy times at ESW HQ restocking after a busy Christmas. I was accidentally sent some red chillies for my Trailblazer Hot Sauce. I could have sent then back but they looked so good I decided to keep them. Currently thinking I’ll smoke them with hickory, but who knows! … there could be a special edition Trailblazer coming soon!
Escape to a corner of our neighbourhood that actua Escape to a corner of our neighbourhood that actually has some hills! An invigorating 7-ish miles from Bisely with better than expected weather, two happy hounds, great views, hidden gems, and predictably much mud! Unparalleled conversation provided by the always entertaining @simasunflower, fellow female foodie entrepreneur, dog lover, strong person, and all around badass. 
.
.
.
#cotswolds #cotswoldhills #cotswoldlife #cotswoldslife #britishcountryside #ukhikers #hikersuk #hikingwithdogs #walkingwithdogs #dogwalk #bisely #countryside #cotswoldswalk #cotswoldswalks #hiking #outdoors #getoutside #osmaps #walkingwithfriends #hiking #hikersofinstagram #lockdownexercise #localwalks #womenwhoexplore #womenwhohike
Copyright © 2019 Eat Sleep Wild | All rights reserved | Privacy Policy
Website by Callia Web

Sign up to receive latest posts by email

Privacy Policy
  • E-mail
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2021 Eat Sleep Wild · All Rights Reserved · Powered by Mai Theme