Nettle is such an amazing plant! All parts of the herb are useful, filled with minerals, vitamins, nutrients and dietary fiber, among other beneficial components. But when we make a nettle tea and strain it after steeping enough time to get the healing juice and nutrients out of the leaves for example, the leftover strained nettle is just a “waste” that usually ends up in the compost heap. Though, it is still beneficial for human health. Here is an easy and delicious snack recipe using leftover nettle, that your kids will love too. You will never throw away the strained nettle after you tried this nettle fruit leather again! But of course, you can use dried and re-hydrated nettle for this recipe. In this case, you will get an even more nutritious superfood!
Ingredients:
- Leftover strained nettle or 1 cup dried nettle, soaked in water for an hour
- 4 large apples
- 4 large pears
- 1 ½ cup water
- Juice of half a lemon
- 2 tbs honey
Preparation:
Wash, core and cut your fruits into chunks. You don’t have to peel them unless they don’t seem too nice. Add the nettle and water and cook until soft, then puree the mixture with a blender. Add the honey. Use food wrap or baking paper to line your trays. Pour the puree onto the sheet and stick it into a cool oven set as low as you can. You are aiming to dry it, not cook it. It can take anything from about 3 hours to about 10 hours to totally dry out. When it’s dried, cut even strips and roll them up.
It is easy to store nettle and fruits this way if your family doesn’t eat the rolls too fast.
