Baked Rainbow Trout

Name: Baked Rainbow Trout
Yield: 2
Cuisine: Australian
Ingredients: 2 x 350g rainbow trout, gilled, gutted and scaled; 1 small lemon; 2 cloves garlic, crushed; 1–2 sprigs rosemary, finely chopped (about 1 teaspoon); 1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil; 1 teaspoon salt flakes, crushed; Freshly ground black pepper, to taste; Salsa verde or cumquat sambal, for serving

With their colourful skin, baked rainbow trout make a gorgeous centrepiece for any table. I developed this recipe for Christmas Day to go with Matt Moran’s rough mint sauce (see video below). Versatile rainbow trout are just as good served with salsa verde, salmoriglio, romesco, coriander pesto, or Cheong Liew’s cumquat sambal. Depending on the accompanying sauce you choose, there’s a whole range of flavours you could add to these baked rainbow trout. So for a wine match I look to a versatile Italian white wine guaranteed to be food friendly. I especially like the Feudo Arancio inzolia; a Sicilian grape with notes of white flowers, good acid and a lovely line of minerality running through it. The easiest way to eat whole fish is to remove the meat from one side then, starting from the tail, lift the backbone away with the other bones attached, revealing the meat on the other side; traditionally it’s considered bad luck to turn a cooked fish over.

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 x 350g rainbow trout, gilled, gutted and scaled
1 small lemon
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1–2 sprigs rosemary, finely chopped (about 1 teaspoon)
1½ tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon salt flakes, crushed
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Sauce of your choice, for serving (see links above)

Method

Remove fish from the fridge about 1 hour before cooking to let it come to room temperature.
Use paper towel to wipe the skin dry and wipe out the belly cavity.
Using a sharp knife, cut 4 slashes through to the bone on just one side of each fish, angled towards the head.
Preheat oven to 180°C.
Grate the zest of half the lemon into a bowl. Add the juice of half the lemon and set the other half aside.
Stir in garlic, rosemary, oil, salt and pepper.
Place fish in an oiled baking dish, scored side up.
Drizzle the oil mixture all over them, getting as much into the slashes as possible.
Place in the oven for about 20 minutes, until the flesh inside the scoring at the thickest part of the fish is just opaque all the way to the bone.
Remove from oven, cover with a clean dry cloth and set aside in a warm place for 5 minutes or so.
Place baked rainbow trout on a platter, drizzle with the pan juices and a little of whatever sauce you’re using.
Sprinkle with salt and serve more sauce and remaining lemon half on the side.