Portuguese-style trout with vinegared rice and beans

You can use any kind of trout for this recipe (brook, brown or rainbow) but the more wild and organic the better.

Portuguese-style trout with vinegared rice and beans

Info

Serves
4
Prep time
30 minutes to 1 hour
Cooking time
10 to 30 minutes

Ingredients

For the fishy bit

  • 4 small trout, preferably brown or brook
  • 250ml / 83/4fl oz dry white wine
  • 2 cloves garlic, sliced
  • 2 bay leaves
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • 125g / 4.5oz flour
  • 16 thin slices of presunto, prosciutto, serrano or Parma ham
  • 125ml / 4.5fl oz olive oil
  • 100g / 3.5oz unsalted butter
  • 30ml / 1.25fl oz lemon juice
  • 90ml / 3.25fl oz chopped flatleaf parsley

For the rice and beany bit

  • 45ml / 1.5fl oz olive oil
  • half an onion, chopped
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 400g / 14.25oz rice
  • 1 can red kidney beans
  • 1 can white kidney (cannellini) beans
  • 1 litre water
  • salt, to taste
  • 15ml / 1.5fl oz white wine vinegar
  • large pinch of white pepper

Method

  1. Gut the fish: take off the head, tail and trim off the fins. Clean the inside. Marinate for half an hour in the wine, garlic and bay leaves. Remove from the marinade, and reserve half a cup (about 250ml/8.75fl oz) of the marinade.

  2. Dry the fish on kitchen paper, sprinkle with black pepper, then dredge in the flour.

  3. Now carefully wrap the fish in the thinly sliced ham, overlapping edges as you go. Think Egyptian mummies!

  4. Heat the oil and add 60g (2.25oz) of the butter in a frying pan until it ripples. Reduce the heat to moderate, then add the fish and cook for about four minutes on each side until the ham is a golden brown. The ham will turn into a kind of crispy wrapping.

  5. Transfer to a warm plate. Pour off all but two tablespoons of the residue in the pan. Add the remaining butter, reserved marinade, lemon juice and parsley.

  6. Boil hard for a couple of minutes until reduced by half.

  7. Pour over the fish and serve with the vinegared rice and beans.

  8. For the vinegared rice and beans, sweat the onion and bay leaf in the olive oil in a large pan until transparent (about five minutes).

  9. Add the rice and saute for one minute until the rice is nicely coated.

  10. Add the red and white beans, cover with water and simmer until all the water has been absorbed and the rice is tender. The timing depends on the type of rice you are using. If in doubt, look on the back of the packet.

  11. Add the salt, vinegar and white pepper to the rice and beans at the end and serve.

  12. This has the same vibe as good sushi rice.