Roast trout is a ridiculously easy dinner to make. I’ve always been a bit apprehensive about baking or roasting fish. Ask me to make a stew and I’ll happily whip it together, but the oven and I…we don’t often get along. After making this dish though, the oven has become my new best friend!
First off, you want to make sure you’re getting fresh fish. Make friends with your fishmonger. This is very important advice. On the day that we bought this fish, I’d asked him for a branzino. He nodded and then waited till his supervisor was out of earshot before quietly whispering to me that he wouldn’t buy the branzino. “The eyes you see”. Our fishmonger then surreptitiously gestured towards the trout and winked. I gave him my cool chin-nod and slipped the trout into my bag. It’s a wonderful feeling indeed to be accepted into the Fish Mafia. Let me know if you join…I’ll send you a badge.
If you haven’t found the fishmonger with whom you can share that special sort of relationship, don’t fret. There’s also good advice you can find in the interwebs about buying good fish. It’s all about the eyes and the smell, really.
The trick that helped me finally conquer my battle with roast fish is the broiler, also a trick that our wonderful fishmonger let me in on. Instead of baking the fish, set the oven to broil and keep the fish on the lower rack. It cooks beautifully in 15 minutes, and with the simplest of ingredients too! For this particular recipe for roast trout, I used a spice rub of salt, pepper, cayenne pepper and paprika along with some lemon, garlic and rosemary. It resulted in a light, incredibly flavorful dish that was perfect for a healthy weeknight meal!
Roast Trout
Equipment
- Oven
Ingredients
- 1 Whole trout Gutted, cleaned and scaled
- 1/4 Large lemon
- 2 Garlic pods
- 1 sprig Rosemary
- 1.5 tsp Salt
- 1.5 tsp Black pepper
- 0.5 tsp Cayenne pepper
- 0.5 tsp Paprika
- 2 tbsp Unsalted butter
Instructions
- Wash and pat dry fish.
- Cut lemon and garlic into thin slices.
- Melt butter in microwave for 20 seconds.
- Set the fish on an oven tray lined with aluminum foil. Brush generously with butter on outside and inside.
- Spread half the salt and black pepper on the outside of the fish.
- Season the inside of the fish with the remaining salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper and paprika.
- Place the sliced lemon, garlic and rosemary inside the fish.
- Set the oven to broil and put the oven tray on the bottom rack.
- After 7 minutes, flip the fish carefully and set it back in the oven
- After 7 more minutes, your fish is done! Serve with a salad of your choice.
Will try this after returning from travel.
It was really simple like the broiling idea a lot
Yes it’s a nice way to get crispy skinned fish!
Looks yummy!!
Looks yummy!!
Thank you!