P
Italian · Molise
Zuppa di Ortiche con Ricotta Salata e Pasta Spezzata Molisana
Stinging nettles harvested in spring — gloved hands only — form the base of this Molise mountain soup. Blanched briefly in salted water to neutralise the sting, the nettles are squeezed dry and roughly chopped. A base soffritto of onion and lardo is built, nettles added and tossed in the hot fat for two minutes, then covered with water and brought to a simmer for 20 minutes. Broken short pasta (pasta spezzata — spaghetti or tagliatelle broken by hand into irregular pieces) is cooked directly in the nettle broth. Ricotta salata (salted dried ricotta) is grated over each bowl at the table; a thread of raw olive oil finishes it. The nettles dissolve partially into the broth, colouring it deep green and tasting remarkably of mineral, spinach-adjacent richness.
I
The Market List
The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.
400 g
fresh stinging nettles
young spring tips only; handled with gloves until after blanching
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
80 g
lardo
finely sliced or diced
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1 medium
onion
finely chopped
Your own market
180 g
spaghetti or tagliatelle
broken by hand into irregular pieces (pasta spezzata)
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1.2 litres
water
Your own market
60 g
ricotta salata
grated at the table; not ricotta fresca
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
4 tbsp
extra-virgin olive oil
raw, for finishing
Your own market
to taste
fine sea salt
for blanching water and seasoning
Your own market
II
The Method
1
Wearing gloves throughout, strip the nettle tips from their stems. Bring a large pot of very well-salted water to a rolling boil. Add the nettles and blanch for 60–90 seconds only. Lift them out and transfer immediately to cold water. The nettles should be vibrant, deep green — not grey or olive — and the sting entirely neutralised.
2
Drain the blanched nettles and, working in batches, squeeze them firmly and thoroughly dry with both hands. No excess water should remain. Chop roughly. Insufficiently dried nettles will dilute and slacken the flavour in the pan.
3
Place the lardo in a heavy pot over a medium-low flame. When it has rendered and begun to turn translucent, add the onion and cook gently until soft and pale gold — not browned. The fat should smell savoury and sweet, not sharp.
4
Add the chopped nettles to the soffritto. Toss them in the hot fat over a medium flame for two minutes, turning to coat evenly. This is the step on which the soup lives or dies: the nettles must absorb the rendered lardo fat fully and begin to smell deeply mineral and grassy — not steamed or watery — before the liquid is added. If the nettles still smell raw and wet, the two minutes are not yet complete.
5
Pour in 1.2 litres of water. Bring to a simmer, then cook uncovered for 20 minutes. The broth will deepen to a strong green and the nettles will partially dissolve into it.
6
Break the pasta by hand into irregular pieces directly over the pot. Cook in the nettle broth until the pasta is tender and the broth has thickened perceptibly from released starch. Taste for salt. The broth should coat the back of a spoon lightly.
7
Ladle into bowls. Grate ricotta salata generously over each portion at the table, then finish with a thread of raw extra-virgin olive oil. The surface should glisten; without the oil the soup will read flat on the palate.
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — Wild spring nettle tips harvested by hand from an unsprayed hillside; aged ricotta salata from a small Molisano producer; a single-estate Molise extra-virgin olive oil; artisan lardo from a mountain-cured pork belly.
02
Estate — Fresh market nettles in peak spring season; a good southern-Italian ricotta salata; a labelled DOP extra-virgin olive oil from Molise or neighbouring Campania; quality lardo from a charcuterie counter.
03
Market — Nettles from a farmers' market or good greengrocer; packaged ricotta salata; a reliable mid-range extra-virgin olive oil; supermarket lardo or pancetta tesa as a substitute.
04
House — Foraged nettles blanched promptly and frozen; hard aged feta crumbled in place of ricotta salata; any grassy extra-virgin olive oil; diced guanciale or mild bacon if lardo is unavailable.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Sight. Blanched nettles are vivid, deep green — not grey, not olive — within 60–90 seconds in the boiling salted water.
◇Touch. Squeezed nettles form a firm, dry mass with no water seeping from them when pressed hard.
◇Smell. After two minutes in the hot fat, the nettles smell mineral, grassy and savoury — the raw, wet green note is entirely gone.
◇Sight. After 20 minutes of simmering, the broth has turned a deep, strong green with the nettles partially dissolved into it.
◇Taste. Pasta is tender and the broth coats the back of a spoon with a light, starchy body — sharp, mineral and seasoned.
◇Where it lives or dies. The nettles must absorb the lardo fat fully and smell deeply mineral and grassy before the liquid enters the pot — if they still taste steamed and watery at that moment, the soup cannot recover its depth.
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VI
What to Pour
The pairing
Sparkling wine
From British Columbia
Wine
Without alcohol
GT's Synergy Organic Kombucha — Gingerade
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Non-alcoholic
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The whole pairingPillar VII
Origin and lineage are part of membership.
Where the dish comes from and how it came to be — on every recipe.
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