To blanch the nettles, bring a large pot of water to a boil. In another pot, or large bowl, prepare an ice bath. Add a generous amount of salt to the boiling water and cook the nettles for 1-2 minutes. Remove and shock in the ice bath. Squeeze as much water as possible from the nettles with your hands, then wrap the nettles in a tea towel or cloth, and twist both ends like a candy wrapper, to expel the remaining water. You now have recipe-ready nettles; the prepared nettles can also be frozen and stored for later use.
Cooking
Nettle Tagliatelle with Pork and Pangrattato Serves 4-6
Pangrattato
1 stale loaf of country bread, crusts removed, cut into rough cubes
1 head of garlic, thinly sliced
¼ cup olive oil handful of fresh parsley and mint
zest of 1 lemon
hot red pepper flakes to taste
salt and pepper to taste
4 ounces of guanciale, pancetta, or bacon, cut into small pieces
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus good extra-virgin olive oil for drizzling salt and pepper to taste
To make homemade tagliatelle, please follow the recipe below.
Heat the oven to 300F, before heating the olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Toss in bread cubes and lightly toast — about 5 minutes. Transfer the cubes to a sheet pan and bake for 15 minutes. Add the garlic to the cubes and continue to bake, until the bread is dry, about 30-40 minutes. Put the bread in a food processor; add the parsley, mint, lemon zest, red pepper flakes and pulse into a mixture of coarse and fine breadcrumbs. Season the pangrattato with salt and pepper.
Bring a large pot of water with a generous handful of salt — it should taste fairly salty, like seawater — to a boil.
Heat a large pan on medium-high heat, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and cook the cured pork for a minute or so, until crisp. Remove from heat. Cook the pasta in the salted water for 2-3 minutes, or until al dente.
Drain the pasta, add it to the pan and toss with the pork. Divide the tagliatelle between plates or bowls. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle generously with the pangrattato.
