Make nettle noodles! Imagine brilliant green pasta, with the fragrance of nettles, and some kind of creamy white sauce over it with roasted red pepper accents.

You take the nettles and put them in the blender with the other wet ingredients for the pasta dough: eggs and olive oil. (1 T of olive oil for every 3 eggs, blenderized with enough fresh raw nettle leaves to make a deep dark green paste.) Work flour into the paste (I like a mix of semolina flour and white pastry flour.) Just keep kneading in enough flour til it's an elastic ball of dough, then let it rest for half an hour.

Roll out, either in a pasta machine or by hand. If a machine, then to #4 thinness on the machine dial. Cut into noodles, hang to dry for a while, cook the usual way.

These are intense, because the nettles are raw, but they don't sting the mouth. But the flavor is earthy and pure springtime.

The best thing I've ever had with nettles was at Spiaggia, in Chicago. The chef made raviolotti stuffed with Crescenza cheese (an amazingly rich and slightly-blue-flavored fresh cheese) and wrapped in nettles (which had obviously been blanched, as my mouth didn't itch after), on a bed of morel mushrooms. The nettles added great texture and a fresh side of earthiness.

I love nettle tea. You can just dry the leaves, crumble them up, and then use them as desired. I add a little at a time into other teas to make my own blends, depending on how I feel.

If you're into arts and crafts, nettle stems actually have decently long fibers for making your own twine or rope.

There's some other fun ideas here:
http://www.liveandfeel.com/medicinalplants/nettle.html

Nettle pesto is amazing! Use it along with Basil or without in your favorite pasta or on your pizza. Makes good bruschetta topping too if you blanch or puree the leaves! Once the formic acid hits the air it doesn't sting anymore. :-)

I make nettle gnocchi every spring! I usually make a sage and brown butter sauce to go with it. You can easily find a recipe online.

Nettle risotto, nettle spanakopita, miso soup with nettle, nettles with truffle butter

I would make a nettle blend tincture, using 80 proof Vodka. Fill a mason jar halfway with shredded nettle, the rest with alcohol. Seal the top and let it sit in a dark place for 6 weeks, making sure to shake it daily. Once finished, strain the mixture into an amber dropper bottle. Nettle has been proven effective for the treatment of allergy symptoms. It is also considered a diuretic that may benefit the immune system.

Like Sacrelicious, I've dried lots of nettles for tea.

This year I'm also thinking about trying something like nettle pesto (like the Fat of the Land version or something, http://fat-of-the-land.blogspot.com/2009/03/stinging-nettle-pesto.html ), since it might be a good way to freeze a big amount.

One final method of preserving them that I can think of is pickling. I tried a small amount last year and will probably do a lot more this year. With the first little batch, I simply packed fresh, unblanched leaves into a jar with some kind of flavored vinegar, herbs, salt, and garlic cloves. I forgot about it for months, but when I finally opened it up, they were very good (and didn't sting me!)

Nettle soup, in a simple preparation, is a reliable option. Cooking into a pasta is another way to go, giving the dish an extra layer of complexity.