Baked Trout
Tender roasted vegetables with baked trout makes a wonderful dinner at the lake.
Whether the fish is freshly caught, or bought, this recipe produces a flaky and delicious fish dinner with roasted vegetables.
Trout is a fish that tastes great with little seasoning. This is why baking it with lemon and a little extra-virgin olive oil comes out so tasty. Many people liken the flavour of trout to salmon (it is part of the salmon family) while others can find it gamey. To ensure the latter is not your experience, ensure the fish if being bought is fresh and cook it the same day.
Preparing the vegetables alongside the fish in this recipe will impart them with, what I find, to be a pleasant taste flavoured mildly by the trout and lemon. I've kept the vegetables in this recipe basic, but feel free to add or swap them for your own vegetable preference. I like adding some sweet onion, red chili peppers, cauliflower, even Brussels sprouts.
This recipe is suitable for pescatarians, is gluten-free, and dairy-free.
Leaving the head and tail on for cooking is optional.
Ingredients
(Makes 4 servings)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 large lemons, sliced
2 whole trout, cleaned
1 teaspoon sea salt, divided
1 teaspoon ground black pepper, divided
1 teaspoon garlic powder, divided
2 large sprigs fresh tarragon
4 white or yellow potatoes, peeled and quartered
8 cherry tomatoes, whole
4 cloves garlic, whole
1 cup broccoli florets, cut to bite sized pieces
1 turnip, peeled and quartered
1/2 sweet red bell pepper, deseeded and sliced
1/4 cup fresh dill, chopped
Directions
Preheat oven to 450°F / 230°C and prepare a baking pan lined with tinfoil. Spread 1 tablespoon of the extra-virgin olive oil along the bottom of the pan and set aside.
Clean both trout and rinse under cold water. Pat the fish dry, inside and out, with paper towel. Sprinkle the inside of each fish with a little of the salt, pepper, and garlic powder, then using a sharp knife, make five equal cuts on what will be the top side of the fish while it bakes. The slices should be big enough to accommodate the halved lemon slices. Place a sprig of tarragon inside each fish then insert slices of lemon into the cuts. Place any remaining lemon slices along the bottom of the baking pan.
Place the fish into the baking pan, lemon slices up, along with the prepared vegetables, fitting the vegetables snuggly around the fish. Sprinkle the fish and vegetables with the remaining salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Sprinkle with the chopped dill, and drizzle with the remaining extra-virgin olive oil.
Cover the pan with a sheet of tinfoil and bake for 30 minutes, removing the top sheet of tinfoil at the 20-minute mark. The fish is done when the meat is white and flakey, and the vegetables are fork tender.
Serve immediately with additional wedges of lemon (optional).
Nutritional Information Per Serving:
total calories = 331 | total fat = 12.34g | saturated fat = 1.88g | cholesterol = 46mg | sodium = 648.25mg | net carbohydrates = 33.96g | dietary fibre = 3.25g | sugars = 4.9g | protein = 21.54g
