We often get a weekly box of veg delivered to support local farms and to get a good hit of veg and one of the items we’ve added to the regulars pile has been a weekly supply of fresh trout. Luckily, as well as being an incredibly tasty fish all by itself, it’s also pretty versatile, so you can use it in everything from curries to stir fries, but our trout with a creamy leek and white wine sauce recipe is definitely the most impressive we’ve put together to-date.
Trout are more often than not freshwater fish, so the ones we use in our recipe are caught in the UK, so they have no impact on open sea fish volumes and come with a pretty low carbon footprint, which adds to their beautiful charm. However, you can use stealhead rainbow trout, which spend time at sea before travelling inland to spawn, for this recipe if you want, but try to make sure they’re sustainably sourced.
It’s a fairly meaty, thick flaked fish that’s closely related to salmon, so it stays together very well when cooked with a sauce, like our very tasty creamy white wine sauce. It’s also one of the crucial oily fishes, so it’s a very healthy option, which is boosted to by it’s relatively low fat levels and a good amount if protein. The addition of white wine and double cream doesn’t really do much to support this, but everyone needs a treat every now and again.
To finish our plate off, we’ve added a delicious carrot mash to bring a bit of body to the meal, which we think makes this a pretty filling recipe all in all.
Ingredients (serves 2):
• 2 trout fillets
• 2 leeks, chopped into slices
• 1 small onion chopped finely
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
• 1/2 vegetable stock cube
• 50ml double cream
• 1 glass dry white wine
• 1tbsp olive oil
• 1tbsp dried parsley
• Salt and pepper to season well
Trout with a creamy leek and white wine sauce recipe instructions:
1. In a large frying pan, warm the olive oil a little before placing the trout fillets, seasoned on both sides, in the centre of the pan top-to-tail to maximise space, and skin down, which will help you to control how they cook a bit better and crisp up the skin nicely.
2. Surround the trout fillets with the chopped leek, onion and garlic and cook on as medium to high heat, moving the veg around to make sure it cooks evenly, while the fish sizzles away nicely.
3. After around ten minutes or so, the trout should be starting to pink up through the fillets as it starts to cook through. Now it’s time to pour in you glass of wine with the half stock cube crushed up in it, and sprinkle in the dried parsley with a little more salt and pepper. Simmer on a low heat for a further ten minutes.
4. Your fish should be cooked through by this stage, so if you’re a little squeamish about the skin, turn each fillet over with a spatular and it’ll come off quite easily. For everyone else, keep it on for the next step in the recipe.
5. The last thing to do is cut the fillets into rough slices with the edge of your spatula and stir in the double cream. After a minute or so over the hob it should be back up to the right heat for serving with your carrot mash for a delicious combination of flavours and textures.
