Trout with spinach and cream

Trout with spinach and cream

Autumn

I pull up at the disused petrol station and get out of my car. A man takes a big, white plastic bag from the boot of his Volvo and hands it to me. I hand him cash in return, then turn and begin to walk back to my vehicle. As I open the door, he shouts across the forecourt, ‘Same again next week?’ I give him the signal and we go our separate ways. Richard catches these magnificent trout in large reservoirs on Exmoor. They are exceptional fish, many of which come in at 2kg (4lb 8oz) and upwards. Sometimes I’ll cold-smoke the fillets and serve thin slices on toast with horseradish sauce and black pepper. When the weather cools down in the autumn, I like to roast the fillets over a smoky wood fire.

Serves 4

Ingredients

  • a knob of butter
  • 1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
  • 250g (9oz) spinach, washed and stripped from the thicker stalks
  • 150ml (5½oz) double (heavy) cream
  • a little grating of nutmeg
  • 1 large or 2 smaller trout fillets (about 400g/14oz in total)
  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
  • a small handful of dill or fennel tops, torn
  • sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Set a grill down over a hot fire. Make sure you’ve got a bed of glowing embers that are all giving out a lot of heat. Pop a pan on the grill and, when it’s hot, add the butter. When it’s bubbling away, add the garlic and allow it to sizzle for a minute or so without colouring it too much.

If you’re using maincrop spinach, you’ll need to chop it roughly before it goes into the pan. If you’re using baby leaf, it can go straight in as it is. Either way, stir in the spinach until it’s wilted right down. Now add the cream, nutmeg and plenty of salt and pepper. Stir until the sauce has thickened. Keep the pan warm.

While the spinach is wilting, trickle the trout with the extra-virgin olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle over the fennel seeds and the torn herbs. Rub the oil and herbs into the skin of the fish. If you can, add a few smaller bits of dry hardwood to the fire, so it’s nice and smoky.

Lay the trout, skin-side down, on the hot bars of the grill. It won’t take long before the trout is sizzling away. You’ll be able to see the translucent flesh turning opaque as the heat travels up through the fish. Use a thin-bladed spatula to carefully turn the trout over. Let the fish smoke over the fire for a further 2–3 minutes, or until it’s just cooked through. Serve the trout straight away with generous spoonfuls of hot, creamy spinach.

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