No Smoke Without Fire: Nduja-Stuffed Trout

Light the BBQ and leave it until the charcoal is ready for cooking. While you wait, boil the potatoes until they have just a little bite (about 8-10 minutes), then drain and leave to dry for a minute or two. Tip the potatoes into a roasting tin and use a potato masher (or the bottom of a mug) to push down gently on them, so that they split. Drizzle the potatoes with olive oil and season with salt and pepper, then put the tin on the BBQ as soon as the charcoal is ready. It will take about 20 minutes for the potatoes to crisp up, and you may need to turn them a couple of times (though remember these are not roast potatoes). Scatter the samphire leaves over the potatoes for the last two minutes of cooking time. If the potatoes are ready before the fish is cooked, cover them with foil and keep warm until ready to serve.

To prepare the trout, fill the cavity of each fish with nduja slices, then tie butchers’ string a couple of times around the fish to secure (or use cocktail sticks to pin the cavities closed). Brush the fish very lightly with olive oil, then – if the charcoal is ready - place them directly on to the grill and cook for 8-10 minutes, then turn each fish and cook the other side for a further 8-10 minutes. If possible, use a meat thermometer to keep an eye on the temperature of the meat; the trout will be thoroughly cooked at 60⁰C, with the skin crisping up and just coming away from the flesh, and nduja juices starting to run out.

While the fish cooks, make the leeks; if you have room on the grill, you can use a small pan to cook them over the charcoal, or (if space is tight) they’re also easy to make on a conventional hob. Place a large pan over a medium heat and add the butter, letting it melt, then add the sliced leeks. Keep stirring the leeks until they start to soften, then add the nduja slices and continue to cook, stirring, until the nduja breaks down, melting into the leeks. Once the leeks are softened and fully cooked (like fried onions), stir in the double cream and then season to taste with salt and pepper. Empty the leeks into a serving dish and cover with foil to keep warm until needed.

When the fish are ready, lift them carefully off the grill and place on a board or serving plate. Cut the string or remove the cocktail sticks and use a couple of spoons to gently tear back the blistered skin. Once the skin has been removed, you’ll see a sort of dark ‘seam’ running down the length of each fish; use your spoons to gently pull the fish away from the centre of this seam, in nice flaky pieces (the flesh will tend to flake away from the bone, so following the same direction as the flakes will make this easier). To serve, take your serving plates and divide the cooked, flaked fish equally amongst them, serving the nduja stuffing alongside. Add a helping of the cooked potatoes and the leeks to each plate, then serve, taking any leftover veg to the table with you.