Sea trout with fennel purée
Wine notes by Anne Tupker, Master of Wine
A classic Burgundian Chardonnay provides the ideal supporting notes of lemons, ripe apples and buttered toast to complement both the sea trout’s fleshy crispness and the creamy-textured fennel purée.
Recipe information
Yield
Serves 6
Ingredients
For the fennel purée
For the sea trout
To serve
Preparation
Method
Step 1
To make the fennel purée, heat the oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the fennel seeds, chilli flakes, onions and 1tsp salt. Cook for about 5 minutes, until the onions start to soften.
Step 2
Add the sliced fennel and cook for another 25 minutes, stirring often, until it has softened and is starting to caramelise in places. Add the garlic and white wine, turn up the heat and cook until the wine has evaporated.
Step 3
Pour in the cream and bubble away for a few minutes more to thicken, then tip into a blender, add 2–3tsp of the lemon juice and purée until smooth. Taste and adjust the salt and lemon (you may need only a little more lemon juice or twice as much, depending on the acidity of the wine), then add a few grindings of black pepper. Put to one side and keep warm.
Step 4
To cook the fish, heat 3tbsp oil in a large non-stick frying pan until it starts to shimmer. Season the sea trout fillets on both sides with salt and pepper
and add to the pan, skin side down. Leave to cook over a low-medium heat for 4–5 minutes, until the skin is crisp (check after a couple of minutes to make sure the skin is not burning), then turn the fillets over and cook for 1–2 minutes more,
until cooked most of the way through, but still a little pink in the middle.Step 5
To serve, spoon a mound of purée on to six plates and place a fillet on top of each one. Drizzle with more olive oil, scatter with the reserved fennel fronds and add a turn of black pepper. Serve with lemon quarters for squeezing, buttered Jersey Royal potatoes and a simply dressed watercress salad.
