Nettle and Cornmeal Camp Soup
A Spanish nettle soup rebuilt around dried greens, cured ham, and cornmeal in one pot.
- calories
- 520
- weight
- 4 oz
- cal / oz
- 130
- protein
- 19 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 20 min
- total time
- 25 min
- water
- 600 ml boiled
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Lunch
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Campfire coals
- Backpacking
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Gluten free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Dehydrate ahead
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Dried nettle leaf | 1/3 cup, packed | foraged and dried at home, or loose-leaf nettle tea |
|---|---|---|
| Fine cornmeal | 2 tbsp | the only thickener, do not skip |
| Serrano ham or prosciutto | 1.5 oz | cured and dry, no fridge needed for a few days |
| Dried onion flakes | 2 tbsp | |
| Dried celery flakes | 1 tbsp | |
| Garlic granules | 1 tsp | |
| Ham or chicken bouillon | 1 cube or 1 tsp | |
| Olive oil | 1 tbsp | |
| Cracked black pepper | 1/2 tsp |
Method
- Tear the ham into small pieces. Warm the oil in the pot and fry the ham a minute until the edges go dark and the fat renders out.
- Add the onion, celery, and garlic. Stir for thirty seconds in the hot fat, then pour in 600 ml of water before anything scorches.
- Drop in the bouillon and the dried nettle. Simmer ten minutes so the leaf rehydrates and the vegetables soften.
- Rain the cornmeal in slowly while stirring. Lumps form the second you dump it all at once.
- Simmer another five to eight minutes, stirring often, until it thickens to a loose porridge. Crack the pepper over the top and eat.
The original is a Spanish soup built on fresh nettles, a ham bone, and butter. None of that travels. What survives the swap is the actual structure: salty cured pork against a green that tastes like dirt and iron, held together with cornmeal instead of a puree.
Cornmeal is the part worth understanding. Two tablespoons turn 600 ml of broth into something you eat with a spoon rather than drink, and it does it without dairy, which is why this version does not miss the butter. Add it slowly. Dumped in at once it clumps, and the lumps never break up in a camp pot.
The ham is doing double duty as protein and as the entire salt-and-fat backbone. Cured Serrano or prosciutto sits fine in a pack for a few days in cool weather. In heat, treat it as a day-one meal.
Packing
Everything dry goes in one bag except the ham and the oil. Dry your own nettles in spring; a full paper grocery bag of leaf cooks down to a few tablespoons of powder and stem.
Variations
- No nettles: dried spinach or kale works, though it is sweeter and less mineral.
- Leave the ham out and use a vegetable cube. It becomes a thin cornmeal porridge, so add a spoon of olive oil back to make up the calories.
- A splash of white wine at the fry stage is the traditional move if you are car camping and carrying a bottle anyway.
https://foragerchef.com/nettle-soup-with-ham-from-extramadura