Whole trout with almond & herb stuffing
We cooked this dish after [my husband] Neil had been out fishing and had caught a fresh-water trout. It’s the stuffing that makes this such a delicious dish; just soften onions and garlic in butter and mix it with the breadcrumbs, fresh herbs, almonds and slices of lemon. Trout is quite forgiving so you can use any mix of herbs you fancy. The stuffing would work just as well with a whole salmon or with small sea breams or seabass.
I really like cooking fish en papillote, and you could certainly use the sealed paper technique here – just cut a big sheet of baking paper to line the oven tray. Once the fish is in and drizzled with the oil, gently bring the sides together, being careful not to wrap the fish too tightly, then crimp to seal and cook as per the instructions below.
-
Prep:15 mins
Cook:20 mins
- Serves 2
- More effort
Nutrition per serving
-
kcal 800
-
fat 46g
-
saturates 11g
-
carbs 50g
-
sugars 0g
-
fibre 4g
-
protein 44g
-
salt 1.51g
Ingredients
- 25g salted butter
- 1 small onion , finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove , finely chopped
- 100g fresh breadcrumbs
- 1 tbsp chopped sage leaves
- A small handful of flat-leaf parsley , leaves and stems chopped
- 20g chopped almonds
- 1 lemon , half sliced, half cut into wedges
- 2 whole trout (each about 350-400g) , gutted
Method
Preheat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/Gas 7.
First, make the stuffing. Melt the butter in a pan over a low heat. Add the onion and garlic and sauté for about 5-10 minutes, until soft but not coloured. Then, remove the pan from the heat and set aside.
Tip the breadcrumbs, herbs and almonds into a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Add the onion and garlic mixture and mix well to combine. Taste for seasoning and season again if necessary.
Place a couple of slices of lemon in the belly of each fish, then carefully spoon equal amounts of the stuffing into each belly, spreading it out in an even layer.
Line a large oven tray with baking paper. Season both sides of each trout with salt and pepper, drizzle both sides with olive oil and place both fish side by side in the oven tray. Drizzle again with oil.
Bake the trout for 15 minutes, until a skewer goes easily through the thickest part of each fish.
Allow the fish to rest for 5 minutes, then serve them whole, with wedges of lemon for squeezing over, and a crisp green salad and buttered new potatoes.


