Recipe: Nettle and potato cakes

Written by Tracy Gaibisso | Wednesday, 14 September 2022

Most people will be familiar with or have their own variation of a potato cake, but throwing stinging nettle into the mix may take some by surprise (and with good reason). Typically, stinging nettle is regarded as a weed; being sprayed with chemicals or yanked out of the ground.

Well, it’s time to put down the pesticide and pick up a spatula for these nettle and potato cakes, that are both tasty and nutritionally dense! Nettle holds great medicinal value and is incredibly high in nutrients – Vitamins A, C, and K (along with several B vitamins), calcium, iron, and all of the essential amino acids to name a few.

Ingredients

1 large potato, peeled and grated
200g gluten free flour
1 tsp bicarb soda
4 free-range eggs
100ml almond milk
Large bowl of stinging nettle leaves (no stalks)
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 lemon
Salt & pepper
50g butter or olive oil

Method

Wilt the stinging nettles by placing them in a pan with a little olive oil and a splash of hot water for 5 minutes, stirring gently. Remove from the heat and allow to cool, then squeeze all liquid from them.
Place the grated potato, flour, eggs, bicarb of soda and milk into a bowl and mix until well combined (to a consistency that is firm yet falls off a spoon).
Chop the nettle leaves a little and then add to the potato mix with a grating of nutmeg Stir until well combined. Season generously. Using your hands create palm-sized patties.
To cook, heat the butter and oil in a frying pan and gently fry until golden brown on both sides. To serve, stack the spinach and potato cakes onto a serving plate and squeeze over the lemon juice.

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Tracy Gaibisso

Tracy has been in clinical practice as a herbalist and Naturopath since 2002 with a special interest in pre-conception, fertility, women's hormones and reproductive health. In addition to her naturopathic qualifications, she has completed post-graduate training in wellness and has a Masters in reproductive medicine. She also currently sits on the Clinical Advisory Committee for Endometriosis Australia.

She offers couples the BEYOND FERTILITY ™ program to assist in achieving optimal outcomes for a healthy pregnancy and birth and offers other practitioners mentoring in the program. She also has her own range of herbal teas in this space.

She is a well-respected industry speaker and established workshop facilitator, speaking both nationally and internationally. In addition, she both supervises in the Clinic and lectures at Endeavour College of Natural Health Perth.

In her downtime, she is a self-confessed foodie and animal lover and you will often find her concocting recipes with medicinal herbs into teas, elixirs, oxymels, smoothies, oils and poultices and researching ways of resurrecting ancient healing knowledge into modern practice.