Nettle Lasagne

This was the forager’s first main course of 2007. The Hampstead Heath nettles had a robust flavour with a rumour of the ocean... Get hold of:

March stinging nettles, 1/2 shopping bag
Chopped tomatoes, 1 tin
Onion, chopped, 1
Garlic, chopped, 2 cloves
1 Lemon
Lasagne sheets
Crème fraiche, ½ cup
Cheddar cheese, grated, 250g
Salt, pepper, nutmeg
Red chilli, ½
Milk, flour, butter
1 8” x 8” baking dish
Assorted pans

For the nettles: Tip the nettles onto a surface and agitate to expel any resident creepy crawlies. Rinse well, remove any woody stalks and chop roughly. In a large frying pan, melt a nob of butter with a drizzle of olive oil and warm the garlic. Add the nettles and fry lightly for a minute or so, add a good squeeze of lemon and salt, cover the pan and reduce the pan to a very low heat for a further 5 minutes, tossing occasionally. Add the crème fraiche and set aside.

For the tomato sauce: Soften the onion and chilli in olive oil, add the chopped tomatoes and reduce slowly. Resist the temptation to add herbs or over-season!

For the bechamel sauce: Melt a knob of butter in a pan, add 1 ½ desertspoons of flour and mix into a paste. Gradually stir in the milk until you have a thick white sauce. Add a pinch of grated nutmeg and ¾ of the grated cheese, and stir in until melted.

Cover the base of you baking dish in lasagne sheets. Spoon over the tomato sauce, and cover with half of the nettles. Repeat, then add one final layer of lasagne sheets. Pour over the bechamel sauce, ensuring that the whole dish is covered. Scatter with pea-sized pieces of the blue cheese. Cook for 35 minutes in a preheated oven at Gas mark 6.