Roast Trout with Spinach & Prosciutto
The roast trout looks fancy but there's nothing difficult about it. In fact, if you can tie up a parcel you can make it.
Trout is one of the healthiest fishes you can eat, especially carefully farm reared rainbow trout which also take into consideration wild fish stocks. Spinach is well known for its nutritional qualities and has always been regarded as a plant with remarkable abilities to restore energy, increase vitality and improve the quality of the blood. Primarily the fact that Spinach is rich in iron, which plays an essential role in the function of red blood cells helping to transport oxygen around the body, in energy production and DNA synthesis. Spinach is also an excellent source of vitamins K, A and C and folic acid, as well as being a good source of manganese, magnesium, and vitamin B2. Vitamin K is important for maintaining bone health and it is difficult to find vegetables richer in vitamin K than spinach.
Ingredients
8 x 120 g trout fillets
75 g ground almonds
2 handfuls dried apricots - chopped
2 large sprigs fresh sage - leaves picked
olive oil
1 clove garlic - crushed
600 g spinach
fresh nutmeg - grated
410 g tinned cannellini beans - drained
410 g tinned chickpeas - drained
4 large slices quality prosciutto (dry cured ham)
Method
Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF/gas 6.
Season the trout with salt and pepper and dust in the ground almonds. Lay 4 of the fillets on a board, skin-side down.
Chop the apricots and half of the sage together. Mix and lay in a line along the tops of the 4 fillets. Top with the remaining fillets, skin-side up, matching heads and tails with the 4 below. Overlap the remaining sage along the length of each trout sandwich.
Cut 4 x 20cm lengths of string and lay them parallel to each other on a work surface, leaving about 3–4cm between each one. Lay 1 of your trout sandwiches across the lengths of string and tie them all up. You should end up with a neat parcel tied in 4 places. Repeat with the other 3.
Heat a large saucepan. Add a large splash of oil and gently fry the garlic until softened. Add the spinach and wilt down, seasoning with salt and pepper and the grated nutmeg. Spread the spinach out in a roasting tray and mix with the pulses. Put the trout parcels on top. Lay the prosciutto slices over the bean mixture, drizzle with oil and bake for 15–20 minutes until the prosciutto is crispy and the fish cooked through.