North London
Risotto

Risotto is the ideal vehicle for miscellaneous leaves. Caroline uses pearl barley instead of rice here - other ingredients were sourced from various parts of Islington and Hackney.

• 2 big handfuls of nettle tips or young nettles (foraged from the housing estate on New North Road)
• Handful of ransom, leaves and flowers (mine from Upper Street area)
• Handful of sorrell leaves (found along Regents Canal, Hackney area)
• Small onion
• Pint or so of boiling stock (veg or chicken)
• 200g or so of pearl barley
• Handful of good quality grated parmesan
• Nob of butter
• Salt and pepper to taste

Rinse the pearl barley and parboil it like pasta for 12-15 mins, then set aside to cool off.

Chop the onion and sweat in a bit of olive oil.

Add the (rinsed) nettles to the onion and heat gently until wilted. After draining, introduce the parboiled barley and start to add the hot stock, ladle by ladle. Keep stirring until barley is tender.

Add the (roughly chopped) wild garlic and sorrell and add to the risotto until it's wilting, then add parmesan and butter. Salt and pepper to taste.

If you feel fancy you can add asparagus and broad beans as well.

(Recipe supplied by Caroline Kalb)

See also Wild Garlic, Ransom Quiche, Nettle Soup.