Fried trout stuffed with ham and bacon in cocotte

A little blue fish? A traditional Navarran recipe? I recommend these fried trout in the Navarrese style , a delicious recipe that I have been preparing for a few years but with some variation, always for the better. This time I have added a careful selection of “Herbes de Provence”, a gift from a friend’s vacation in Provence where these herbs originate, and which for a month have occupied a privileged place on my spice shelf.

The trout from Navarre can be prepared in many ways, there are a thousand versions of this recipe and all are good, but keeping pace by the pan and stuffed with ham crumbs. On the blog we have other recipes with trout, very successful indeed, such as this type of  baked stuffed fried trout  and trout strudel with potatoes and vegetables . Particularly it is a fish that I like for its simplicity to prepare and how tasty it is.

I have added the final mash with garlic confit, pine nuts and Provencal herbs (mixture of various herbs: thyme, basil, tarragon, bay leaf, savory, marjoram, oregano, rosemary and lavender). You can also find this recipe with trout wrapped in ham slices or stuffed with thin bacon slices. You will see that my tunneling of the filling in this recipe incorporates the best of both versions, a good Iberian ham and finite bacon to help make the trout juicy. For all of you who start cooking this recipe, don’t forget to take them with a good glass of wine, sweeping home or I recommend a mencía.

Preparation of stuffed trout

1. We must clean and wash the trout very well, empty the interior (guts and central bone), also cleaning as many bones as possible. As I always tell you, if you have a trustworthy fishmonger ask him to do it for you, he is a professional and what costs us a lot is he will do in a minute. And my other recommendation is to go to the neighborhood or market fishmongers. The packaged fish and its indications are good but the fishmonger’s recommendations are much better.
2. We put a large saucepan on the fire with a finger of extra virgin olive oil. Peel the garlic and cut into cubes. We lower the heat to the minimum and confit (cook in oil at low temperature) the garlic for ten minutes. Remove from the oil and cut into small pieces, reserve on a plate.
3. We dry the trout with absorbent kitchen paper, it is important that there are no traces of water since we are going to pass them through oil and thus avoid them from jumping. Season to taste inside and fill with a slice of Iberian ham and another with bacon, we close the trout with several sticks or, as you will see in the photos, with a skewer stick, it is important so that it does not open when frying. We pass both sides with flour, the one you like best. We shake them to remove the excess flour and reserve.
4. Heat the pot again over medium heat and fry the trout for 10 minutes, round and round. This step facilitates the subsequent peeling of the trout, since the skin will be very crisp.
5. We squeeze the juice of the half lemon, with a fork it will be enough. And in a bowl we mix the juice with 4 tablespoons of the coconut oil, the Provencal herbs, a pinch of salt, the garlic confit and the pine nuts. Stir well so that the flavors come together.
6. We preheat the oven to 200º for 10 minutes and choose a tray to put the fried trout. This will be the last step. We will finish making the trout and they will immerse themselves well in the taste of the majado. We introduce the trout in the tray and cover with the previous sofrito. We bake them for 10 minutes at 180º with the gratin on.

These trouts are perfect as a single dish, well accompanied by a little tomato and lettuce salad. A simple, nutritious and above all tasty recipe, a real delicacy. Be sure to enjoy all the recipes for fish and seafood that we have on the blog, I assure you that you will find a lot of ideas to make yours much happier.

Be sure to enjoy all the recipes for fish and seafood that we have on the blog, I assure you that you will find a lot of ideas to make yours much happier.