Stinging Nettle Crisps

There's two ways of doing this- deep fried or baked. 

In the same way that you would make kale crisps, they are much easier to infuse flavourings into them if you bake them in an oven. This way you can make your own spice rub, ensuring that the flavours evenly coat the leaves.

Being the first time that I have made these I opted for simplicity although I will add some flavouring ideas at the end should you want to make them more interesting.

1. Don some gloves- my fingertips are now covered in stings because I skipped this step (more accurately, I didn't have any)
2. Put the nettles into a bowl and coat with an oil of your choice, personally I prefer olive oil.
3. Then add your flavourings (I just used salt) and massage into the leaves and ensure they are evenly covered.
4. Lay them out onto a baking tray covered in baking parchment preferably flat and not folded over as this will affect cooking time. 
5. Bake for around 20 minutes on 100 Degrees Celsius (note this works better in a non fan assisted oven as you risk your lightweight leaves being blown around!) But make sure you keep an eye on them as size variations will affect cooking time.
6. Remove from Baking parchment carefully as they are delicate and place onto a tissue or J cloth to drain the excess oil.

If you decide to deep fry them instead, ensure that you dry the leaves properly after washing and put them into slightly cooler oil otherwise they will burn almost instantaneously. 

Flavouring ideas: 

lime and corriander

sea salt and black pepper

smoked paprika and fennel seed 

parmesan (finely grate parmesan onto the leaves)