Crispy Green Herb Patties

From a reportedly Viking recipe, these crispy green herb patties are full of flavor from all the herbs and, of course, from being browned in butter. They make a great vegetarian main or appetizer. 

Today we are “cooking like Vikings,” at the behest of our Sunday FunDay host, Amy of Amy’s Cooking Adventures for Leif Erikson Day, which just happens to be today. 

I’ll be honest, aside from the fact that Leif Erikson was a Viking explorer, I didn’t know much else about him. And I had no idea that there was even a Leif Erikson Day! Turns out that it’s been on the official US calendar since 1964. You can read more about it here: https://www.wincalendar.com/Leif-Erikson-Day And even more about Explorer Erikson on History.com. Thanks to Amy, I am now much better informed!

I found this Viking recipe on a website from the Ribe Viking Center in Ribe, Denmark where archeological excavations have confirmed the presence of Vikings in the past. The original recipe title would translate to green meatballs but the description said that, of course, they were vegetarian so I changed the English name. Calling them green meatballs would just have confused people! And I hope you would agree that plain old “green balls” would have been weird. 

Crispy Green Herb Patties

I’m leaving the ingredients list intact, in case you do indeed have access to nettles, dandelion leaves, bird’s-eye grass, birch leaves and chervil. I don’t but I did find cress, chives and scallions to which I added some parsley and cilantro because they are green herbs and I already had them on hand. How much is a basketful? I have no idea but I leave you this photo of what I used. It’s a bunch of green stuff! 

The original recipe advises: If you do not make the herb patties early in the spring, you should remember to ONLY use the newest, tender shoots.

Ingredients

1 basketful of different, fresh herbs such as nettles, cress, chives, scallions, dandelion leaves, bird's-eye grass, birch leaves and chervil.

1 medium onion (mine weighed 120g)

1 large clove garlic

1 large egg

3/4 cup or 100g coarse wheat flour – I used stoneground wheat 

1/4 cup or 22g oatmeal

1-2 tablespoons milk

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

Butter for frying

Optional for garnish: chopped chives

Method

Thoroughly wash the green herbs and discard any tough stems. Spin them in a salad spinner to dry them. If you don’t have a salad spinner, put the herbs in the middle of a towel and bring the sides together securely. Go outside and swing the towel around quickly. Works like a charm. 

Peel and roughly chop your onion and garlic. Put them in a food processor and chop finely. 

Add in the herbs, in two or three groups depending on the size of your processor.

 

Chop finely, occasionally scraping down the sides of the processor with a spatula. 

Measure the flour and oatmeal into a large mixing bowl. Add in the herb mixture and the egg. 

Stir until well combined. 

Add the milk one tablespoon at a time – you might not need it all – mixing well. 

You don’t want it to be too wet or too dry. A spoonful should hold together when you press it into a ball with your clean hands. 

Add the salt and mix well. 

Use a spoon or scoop to divide the mixture into 12-13 portions. Shape them into patties. 

Melt a couple of tablespoons of butter in a skillet. Add the patties, being careful not to crowd the pan. Remember, you will need space to turn the patties over with a spatula. 

You may need to cook them in two batches, adding more butter to the pan for the second batch. 

Cook the patties over a medium heat until they are crispy and golden on both sides. 

Serve warm. Enjoy! 

As mentioned above, it’s Sunday FunDay and also Leif Erikson Day. Check out the Viking recipes we are sharing below. 

• Meatball Lefse Wraps from Amy’s Cooking Adventures
• Crispy Green Herb Patties from Food Lust People Love
• Kjøttkaker med brunsaus (Norwegian Meatballs) from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Norwegian Havre Kjeks (Sweet and Salty Oatmeal Rounds) from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Pannekaken - Norwegian Pancakes from Sneha’s Recipe
• Suaasat, a Greenlandic Christmas Stew from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Swedish Pickled Herring Appetizer from Palatable Pastime

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