Nettle & Ramp Quiche with Potato Crust
Don’t be afraid to try nettles. Here’s the trick: Steaming, soaking, or crushing the raw leaves will render the nettle’s sting harmless.
Ingredients
6 cups fresh nettle leaves
1 Tbsp. butter
4 ramps, bulb and leaves separated and chopped (or 1 small onion, chopped)
3 large gold potatoes, sliced as thinly as possible
4 oz. chèvre cheese, crumbled (or cream cheese, cubed)
5 eggs
½ cup half and half
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
Steam nettle leaves for 1-2 minutes, then run under cold water and drain. Squeeze moisture out before chopping. You should have 1 ½ cups packed chopped leaves. Set aside.
Heat oven to 350 degrees and generously oil a 10-inch pie dish.
Sauté ramp bulbs in butter for a few minutes until golden. Add ramp leaves and stir for a few seconds until wilted. Stir in nettle leaves (if they were frozen, first squeeze them dry) and remove from heat. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Arrange overlapping potato slices around bottom and up sides of oiled pie dish, covering it as you would a pie crust. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Arrange ramp and nettle mixture over potatoes and top with crumbled chèvre (or cubed cream cheese).
Whisk together eggs and half and half in a bowl with salt and pepper to taste then pour over the dish. Bake for about 40 minutes until just set.
Suggestions
You can also use 1 1/2 cups pre-cooked, frozen nettles. After thawing, be sure to squeeze out the excess moisture.
Read more about nettles in "Nettles: Friend and Foe."
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