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nettle, walnut and ground-elder bread with herbs and hojiblanca extra virgin olive oil

5 June 2012 by Dominic Franks

… The Viking is obsessed with foraging, so much so that he’s now taken to carrying Alys Fowler’s brilliant book The Thrifty Forager around with him when he goes out for walks… there’s nothing wrong with this per-se its just that it means he comes into the kitchen with the odd bit of foraged leaf and tells me to get creative… so far so safe… I feel more than happy about working with what nature brings me… it’s when he brings me some deadly nightshade that I reckon I have to start worrying…

…the very good people over at Richmond Towers sent me two un-branded olive oils to taste… one was a divine premium, single variety, Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Andalusia in Spain made from the eponymous olive Hojiblanca which has deeply grassy notes and a wonderfully rich, fruity aroma, the other was a nasty piece of work made from processed cardboard, as far as I could tell, with added olive oil for ‘flavour’… it is incredible what producers get away with and even more incredible what we, the consumer fall for… and no, it has nothing to do with price, both bottle retail at the same price in supermarkets…

… there are many things I could use the oil for but I needed to bake bread so I thought I’d start by using it to create a nice rich olive oil bread… that was until The Viking came in with a bag of foraged greenery…

nettle, walnut and ground-elder bread with herbs and hojiblanca extra virgin olive oil
i’m using the low-knead method again here which has quickly become my bread making method of choice… if you haven’t tried yet you really must!


400g strong white bread flour
1 teaspoon fast action dried yeast
1 teaspoon salt
300ml warm water
a large handful of chopped walnuts
a large handful of nettle tops
4 or 5 ground-elder leaves – sliced very thin
a pinch of fresh thyme
5 tablespoons of good quality extra virgin olive oil

– carefully pick your nettle with rubber gloves, you want the top 4 leaves off each plant, wash them thoroughly along with the ground-elder and then boil them for 5 mins in a little vegetable stock, drain, squeeze out the excess water and spread them out to dry a little

– place the flour, yeast, salt and water into a bowl and bring it together with a rubber spatular until its a shaggy mess, cover with a tea-towel and set aside for 10 minutes

– after 10 minutes, take your olive oil and drizzle a tablespoon over your work surface, then, using the palm of your hand, spread it out.  Tip the sticky dough onto the oil, use the spatula to clear the bowl as much as you can then drizzle some more oil into the bowl and wipe the inside of the bowl with oil

– knead the bread for 8 ‘stretch-and-heel-and quarter-turn’ kneads… you should already feel the dough has risen and is quite quite soft, it should almost be difficult to make the final knead… cover with a tea-towl and set aside for 10 minutes… repeat this 2 more times

– after the final low-knead, place it back in the bowl, cover and put the bowl somewhere warmish for an hour or until doubled in size

– after this time, oil your surface again, tip the dough out and spread it our into an oval shape

– spread the walnuts on top and then fold and knead them gently in

– spread the dough out once more into an oval and spread the nettles and ground-elder and sprinkle the thyme on top

– now roll up the dough containing the nettles inside and place it into a pre-oiled loaf tin, place this in a warm place and let it rise again for at least 45 mins

– bake in a pre-heated oven on 190C for 35-40 minutes or until golden and risen

the taste that dominates is the incredible olive oil but the swirl of nettles comes through as a dark earthy taste that compliments it well and the ground-elder has a slight lemony taste which is very subtle but in there nonetheless…

… I also made a lovely ground-elder and nettle omelet which I served on the toasted bread… a foragers feast!

Hojiblanca Olive Oil is available to buy in selected Tesco stores across the UK…

eat and of course, enjoy!

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Filed Under: Bread Tagged With: hojiblanca, nettles, olive oil, The Viking

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Comments

  1. Sue/the view from great island says

    5 June 2012 at 4:02 pm

    Wonderful post, I knew it would be fascinating just from the title. Your forager's feast looks smashing!

  2. Choclette says

    5 June 2012 at 4:21 pm

    Great post Dom, it's given me a much needed giggle. Cardboard olive oil indeed! Love your use of nettles and ground elder in bread – yo the Viking I say. Sounds delicious.

  3. Mark Willis says

    5 June 2012 at 4:43 pm

    Dom; Are you knowledgeable about oils, then, because I want some advie? What is your opinion of British Rapeseed oil? Does it compare with olive oil, do you think?

  4. A Trifle Rushed says

    5 June 2012 at 5:04 pm

    How wonderful, I've never tried nettles or ground-elder, brilliant to incorpoate them into the bread and an omelette. Mi'm taking rubber gloves with me when I walk the dog tomorrow!

  5. Dom at Belleau Kitchen says

    5 June 2012 at 5:23 pm

    Hey Mark, actually I love British Rapeseed Oil, I wrote a post about a local on here http://belleaukitchen.blogspot.co.uk/2010/12/cold-pressed-rapeseed-oil.html… it's great stuff and I use it regularly in salads and cooking but it is quite expensive… we're surrounded by rapeseed fields so its nice to know it goes into something other than bio-fuel! x

  6. Tabitha says

    5 June 2012 at 7:07 pm

    Home made bread cures all ills in our house.

    PS> having Jubilee cocktails what a great day!i

  7. Tabitha says

    5 June 2012 at 7:07 pm

    Me too, I use it all the time, best to support the locals.

  8. Janice says

    5 June 2012 at 7:17 pm

    I had no idea you could eat ground elder! We have loads of it and loads of nettles too on our farm. The bread looks very tasty.

  9. Marmaduke Scarlet says

    5 June 2012 at 7:56 pm

    Hurrah for The Viking! Love foraging and can't wait to get some ground elder – though I am a fairweather forager – so preferably when it's not bucketing down!

  10. Laura loves cakes says

    5 June 2012 at 8:56 pm

    Wow, what an interesting bread…and I'm very impressed that there was foraging involved!!! I'd love to give this a try to see what it tastes like!

  11. Ruth Ellis says

    5 June 2012 at 9:14 pm

    Some sort of serendipity going on here – my folks arrived for a visit yesterday with a large bag of nettles, banded into portions, to go in the freezer! Sounds like I've just found a use for some of them… looks fantastic!

  12. Working london mummy says

    6 June 2012 at 11:47 am

    what a fantastic use of these lovely foraged ingredients. Your bread looks such a lovely texture and perfect with the omelette.

  13. bellini says

    6 June 2012 at 12:09 pm

    I had my first encounter with a stinging nettle when I visited Lincolnshire as a young child…wink….I am sure that the bread would be a much more rewarding experience.

  14. Debby says

    7 June 2012 at 1:01 pm

    I think we have lots of ground elder in the garden but I'm not sure and am like you a bit worried that it might be something deadly! I must check out my Thrifty forager too Dom…

  15. Thrifty Household says

    10 June 2012 at 6:59 pm

    Mmmm…heading out to look for some nettles now!

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About Dom In The Kitchen

My name is Dominic, I am a cook, food writer and creative event producer. I write the food blog Dom In The Kitchen and also write a monthly recipe column for Lincolnshire Life Magazine and Good Taste Magazine. I also run creative event production company The Persuaders, producing global events for brands since 1997. I am based both in the small village of Belleau in Lincolnshire and the smaller village of London! Read More…

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