Lemon Baked Trout With Lentils

Sophie cooked this earthy and grounding meal in autumn, but you can make this and play with seasonal veggies throughout the year to suit. In summer, you can prepare the lentils and vegetables ahead of time and serve them cold with the addition of spinach leaves.

If you are short on time, you can skip preparing your lentils from scratch, and use rinsed and drained canned cooked lentils, seasoning to taste. Bake the trout with the skin on, as it’s easiest to remove the small bones and the skin once the fish is cooked. Our trout was 3 pounds (about 1.4 kilos), so adjust the cooking time depending on your fillet size.

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

2 cups French/puy lentils
1 litre vegetable stock
1 bay leaf
a large bunch of fennel and flat-leaf parsley
2 trout fillets
1 lemon, zested and sliced into thin 0.5-centimetre rounds
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
3 garlic cloves, crushed
⅓ cup white wine
2 carrots, diced into 1-centimetre cubes
1 medium-sized courgette, diced into
1-centimetre cubes
2–3 tablespoons water
flat-leaf parsley, to garnish

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan bake).

Put the lentils, stock and bay leaf into a saucepan, place over a medium heat and bring to a gentle simmer. Turn down the heat to medium-low, and cook for 40 minutes, until the liquid is soaked up and the lentils are cooked but not mushy.

Meanwhile lay some of the fennel fronds and parsley down in a large oven dish, big enough for the trout fillets. Place the fillets on top, skin-side down, then sprinkle with the lemon zest and cover the fillets with sliced lemon and remaining fennel fronds. Bake for 15–20 minutes, or until the top of the fish turns opaque and the inside remains just coral orange. It should flake easily when you gently press it with a fork.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan, then add the onion and sauté. until translucent. Add the garlic and sauté. for a further minute, then remove the garlic and onion from the frying pan and place in a bowl.

Deglaze the frying pan: pour the wine into the frying pan, and then cook for 30 seconds while stirring and scraping the bottom.

Add the carrots, and after a minute or so finally the courgette, and fry until just cooked, adding tablespoons of water when necessary, to slightly steam the veggies.

Return the sautéed onions and garlic to the pan, and heat through. Add the cooked lentils to the sautéed vegetables, and stir to combine. Finish with chopped flat-leaf parsley. Serve alongside the portioned cooked trout. Divine.