Spring greens

This time of year is the best for the culinary nettle, when the leaves are young and tender ( and bristling with the fresh  toxins). Nettle soup is renowned - simple and nutritious - but I've been experimenting with nettle cakes in recent years. The trick is to puree the boiled leaves (having taken care to snip off all the stems) so that you end up with a deep green paste which is incorporated into the batter. There's not a great deal of extra flavour involved but the colour is just right for the season.