Stinging Nettle & Ramp Leaf Oil Pizza

Always a thrill stumbling into new areas- creeks lush with watercress and nettles and unfamiliar hillsides with healthy populations of ramps. It was still a little early for morels but I came home with plenty. We fired up a bunch of pizzas but I was most excited about this nettle, ramp leaf oil, sausage, and lemon zest pie. It was a good day. Video of the process below.

Ingredients:

Fresh stinging nettle tips (handle with care)

Fresh ramps (leaves only) *please leave bulbs in the ground

Shredded mozzarella

Crumbled sausage (sauteed in advance)

Lemon (to zest)

Good olive oil

Pecorino Romano

Pizza dough

The Nettles

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

2. Prepare a large ice bath in a bowl.

3. Using tongs, drop your stinging nettle into a pot of boiling water for 1 minute. Blanching will immediately nullify the stinging power of the nettle and you’ll then be able to handle it without concern.

4. Transfers the blanched nettle to the ice bath to shock them.

5. Drain, and squeeze out as much water as you can. Allow to air dry to remove even more water.

6. Drizzle with olive oil and set aside.

The Ramp Oil

1. Clean your ramp leaves in a cold bowl of water to remove any bits of dirt.

2. Trim the stems off completely leaving only the leaves behind.

3. Lay in the ramp leaves into your food processor (or blender) and add in good quality olive oil. You’ll have to use your best judgement on the amount depending on how many ramps you’re using. The consistency should be thinner than pesto.

4. Add a little dash of salt, and blitz for about a minute.

5. Transfer the puree into a fine mesh sieve and use a rubber spatula to press the oil down into a bowl. What’s left behind is a fragrant mash of ramp leaves with some traces of oil. This can be saved / frozen / and incorporated into countless other dishes. For now, you’re focusing on just the extracted oil that comes out of the sieve.

6. Transfer the oil into a container, ideally a squeeze bottle with cap. It’s ready to go. Store in the refrigerator.

The Dough

For the pizza dough I have been very happy using a Ken Forkish recipe from Flour Water Salt Yeast for an overnight dough (67% hydration) with levain. It’s one of the few recipes that I have decided not to mess with as it always yields great results.

The Assembly & Finishing

1. Stretch your dough and drizzle first with a little bit of olive oil.

2. Layer on your shredded mozzarella cheese.

3. Now evenly distribute the blanched nettles (in olive oil).

4. Spread out the cooked sausage crumble evenly.

5. Grate fresh Pecorino Romano over the top of the pie.

6. Bake your pizza. I use a wood fired Ooni Pro but use whatever works for you.

7. Drizzle on a generous amount of ramp oil.

8. Add fresh lemon zest.

9. Enjoy!

Nettle Spaghetti alla Chitarra con Bottarga

I’ve been patiently waiting for the stinging nettle to be just the right size, thinking about all the details of this dish throughout the winter. In the end it’s all about simplicity and timing- a bright nettle pasta balanced by the umami of the mullet botarga. A creamy sauce that blends together shaved bottarga, spring allium infused olive oil, with a touch of pasta water thrown together with crunchy toasted breadcrumbs. This was one of the top pasta dishes in recent memory for me. The Sicilian rimancinata is from @molini_del_ponte_drago which I sourced from @gustiamo along with the bottarga. The pantry just got a major upgrade. Video of the whole process below.

The Pasta Dough

Ingredients

400 g semola rimacinata cuore (or similar)

3 eggs

100 g blanched stinging nettle, pressed to remove most water

Directions

1. Using tongs, drop your stinging nettle into a pot of boiling water for 1 minute. Blanching will immediately nullify the stinging power of the nettle and you’ll then be able to handle it without concern. *One thing I’d change in retrospect would be to remove the thicker stems and just use the most tender tips of the plant. I didn’t take care to remove the larger stems and the fibers became slightly problematic at a later stage when it’s time to cut the pasta.

2. Transfer the nettle to an ice bath which will lock in the beautiful color.

3. Remove after a few minutes and squeeze out excess water. Set aside. You can freeze whatever is extra.

4. Using a food processor, blend together the nettle and eggs until it is a frothy green liquid.

5. On a clean work surface make a mound of flour and create a well in the center.

6. Pour the nettle/egg mixture and begin combining together with a fork or bench knife and then use your hands. This flour is a bit more course than all purpose or 00, so it might seem a bit crumbly at first. But keep working it, as you would with other flour, and it all comes together nicely. If it feels too dry, add a little cold water as necessary. Work the dough methodically for about ten minutes until you have a smooth, homogeneous ball.

7. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 mins.

8. Unwrap the dough and divide into two. Wrap the portion that is on standby.

9. Gently dust your work surface and begin rolling out the dough with a rolling pin (mattarello). If you prefer to use a pasta roller for this, that will work also. Work methodically, going from the center outwards to the edges, creating a large round sheet (sfoglia). Sprinkle with more flour if the dough seems to be sticking to any surface. Roll it out to about 2mm thickness, flipping the pasta sheet over a few times to work from both sides. Allow the sfoglia to air dry for a few minutes while you prepare your chitarra.

10. I’m using a chitarra which is a beautiful pasta making tool I recently purchased. You can use any pasta maker with a spaghetti attachment if you don’t own a chitarra. The resulting noodle is square shaped and a bit thicker than traditional spaghetti - very similar to tonnarelli. Call it what you want, it is delicious.

11. Cut sections of the sfoglia so that they fit precisely onto the chitarra strings. Gently use the rolling pin to apply pressure downwards, gradually pressing the pasta through the strings. Remove, dust with some semolina, and repeat until all of your dough is finished. Cover with a towel until ready to cook or into the refrigerator if saving for the next day.

The Pasta con Bottarga

Ingredients

Mullet or tuna bottarga

Extra virgin olive oil

Finely diced garlic (or in this case wild spring alliums)

Breadcrumbs (approx 1/2 cup)

Salt / Pepper

Directions

1. Add about 1/4 cup of good olive oil to a pan and bring to medium heat.

2. Saute the garlic/alliums for a few minutes until translucent.

3. Remove from the heat and pour into a small bowl to cool off.

4. Meanwhile, in the same pan you used for the garlic, toast about 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs until golden brown.

5. Shave a few teaspoons of bottarga directly into the oil and stir to infuse all the flavors. Adjust the amount of bottarga depending on how "powerful you want that flavor to be. Set aside.

6. Bring a large pot of water to boil and season with salt.

7. Cook the pasta for about 3 minutes and drain - making sure to reserve about a cup of the pasta water.

8. Toss the pasta with oil/bottarga mixture, and adjust with the reserved pasta water.

9. Plate each serving and top with more grated bottarga and a generous sprinkle of breadcrumbs which are essential to cap off the dish.

10. Enjoy.