Claire’s Nettle-Kissed Buns

Read the whole recipe through once before you begin.

For the dough:

Combine the flours, yeast, salt, honey and butter in a large bowl, cutting in the butter until it’s in small lumps. Set aside.

Lightly whisk the egg into the milk and add it into the dry ingredients. Mix with your hands until it forms a rough ball, then remove it to a lightly-floured counter, and knead until the dough is soft, supple and tacky but not sticky, about 6-8 minutes. (You may need to add a little flour to get the right dough texture. It depends on the humidity in the air.)

Pour 1 teaspoon of cooking oil into the clean/dry bowl, roll the dough in the bowl to coat it in oil, cover the bowl with a plate or towel and set in a warm place to rise for 1½ to 2 hours, or until the dough is doubled in size.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter and roll into a rectangle depending on the size of bun that you want: 12”x12” for 8 large buns (breakfast bun/sandwich size); 8”x20” for 16 medium-sized buns (dinner roll size); or 6”x24” for 24 small buns (party size).

Brush the rectangle of dough with melted butter, then spread the nettles evenly on top (see below Notes section for instructions about the nettles). Follow with the cheese, lemon zest and pine nuts, then press the toppings firmly into the dough with the palm of your hand.

Roll the dough up into a log, using a bench scraper or spatula to un-stick the dough when necessary. Pinch the bottom seam to seal, then rock it, seam side down, to even everything out.

Flour a knife or bench scraper to cut the log into half, then cut each half into quarters. Continue to cut each piece in half until you have the desired number of buns (as detailed above). Gently transfer the slices to a parchment-lined or buttered pan, cover the pan, and set in a warm place to rise until doubled, about 1-1½ hours.

Set the rack in the middle position and preheat the oven to 350°F.

Dab the remaining melted butter onto the proofed rolls with a pastry brush, then bake until light golden, 10-18 minutes, depending on their size.

When done, remove from oven and cool buns on a rack. Serve warm with butter, or slice for sandwiches.

Notes:

For nettle foraging tips, watch this episode of Outlander Kitchen’s Outdoor Pantry (on the attached blog link)! Always wear gloves when handling nettles, until they are blanched and cooled.

You will need 5 or 6 big (gloved) handfuls of nettles for this recipe. Use the top 2-3 sets of leaves only, and wash well in tepid water with a splash of vinegar to kill any little bugs.

Blanch the nettles (or spinach) in boiling salted water for 2-3 minutes. Use tongs or a slotted spoon to remove the nettles from the boiling water, then shock the nettles in a bowl filled with ice water. This will cool them immediately and stay the bright green colour.

Remove nettles from the water and wring the nettles in a clean dish towel to squeeze out as much water as you can. Chop them finely and proceed with the recipe.

Frozen chopped spinach is a great substitute if you can’t get your (gloved) hands on nettles. It also has to be wrung out, once thawed, to remove excess water.

If pine nuts are unavailable, or prohibitively expensive, use slivered almonds instead.

I also tried cooking these in muffin tins, but we preferred the soft sides of the buns cooked together in a pan.