Oh, you don’t like fish? Look again. See the beauty in that trout? The quality continues with every bite. This recipe comes from Eat in My Kitchen, the award winning first book from Meike Peters.
To many people, fish all tastes the same. For some of us there are four flavors: salmon, trout, swordfish and tuna, and everything else. I’m one of those people. I avoid the swordfish and tuna these days because of the sustainability issues. The “everything else” category, well, tastes like everything else and I can’t get excited. But, growing up in Oregon, I live on and still adore salmon and trout. The flavors are distinct and, for me, eternal.
I will admit, I have been to enough weddings are bar mitzvahs that I can be bit weary of the salmon, unless the preparation is inventive. And, I will admit that when it comes to trout, I am lazy. Just lazy. I melt some butter and do a quick pan-fry, then apply a torrent of lemon juice.
I think of trout as delicious and quick comfort food. This recipe from Meike takes trout down a very different dimension. Here elegance and complexity shine. It’s still a quick dish to prepare, but one so beautiful that you will pause before sampling that trout, that perfect trout.
Here’s my review of Eat in My Kitchen. You do want to do that. With this very important book.
Oh, “al cartoccio” means cooked in parchment. You probably figured that out.
Trout al Cartoccio with Prosciutto, Olives, and Tomatoes
Yield: Serves 1 to 2
Ingredients:
- Parchment paper
- Olive oil
- 1 medium tomato, thinly sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- Fine sea salt
- Ground pepper
- 1 whole trout, scaled, gutted, and cleaned, about 12 to 14 ounces (340 to 400 g)
- 2 bay leaves
- 10 thin slices Tyrolean prosciutto or prosciutto di Parma
- 10 black olives, preferably Kalamata
- ⅓ cup (75 ml) dry white wine
Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
Cut 2 pieces of parchment paper large enough to wrap the fish like a package and lay them on top of each other. Brush the top sheet with olive oil. Spread the tomato and half of the garlic in the middle of the parchment and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Coat the trout with a little olive oil and season to taste with salt and pepper, inside and out. Stuff the trout with the remaining garlic and 1 bay leaf and carefully wrap the prosciutto around it. Place the fish on top of the tomato and lay the other bay leaf on top. Arrange the olives around the trout and lay the package in a baking dish. Fold the sides over and twist both ends of the parchment paper but leave a small opening on top of the fish. Pour the wine through the opening onto the fish then close the parchment package and fold the top twice to seal. Bake for 15 minutes. If the trout is cooked through and you can lift the fillets off the bones with a fork, it’s done. If not, close the parchment again and continue baking for up to 5 minutes. The cooking time can vary depending on the size of the fish, but mind that you don’t overcook it.
Divide the trout into 2 fillets. Arrange the fish, prosciutto, olives, and tomatoes on plates, and serve immediately.
Source: Recipe from Eat in My Kitchen – To cook, to bake, to eat, and to treat by Meike Peters, published by Prestel