Method

Boil a kettle of water and pre-heat the oven to 180°C.

In a medium size saucepan on a low to medium heat, add the olive oil and onion and cook until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and cook for a further 2 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan of boiling water, add the peas and cook for a few minutes. Drain then add to a blender.

Add the orzo to the cooked onions and season with salt and pepper. Add the white wine, stir and cook until most of the moisture has been absorbed.

Gradually add in the stock ladleful at a time. Stir frequently until the liquid has been fully absorbed.

Place the trout fillets into some foil, season with salt and pepper then form a parcel with the foil so it seals in the moisture. Put on an oven tray and place into the oven for 18-20 minutes.

Whilst the orzo is cooking, add the watercress to the blender (the peas should already be in there) along with the juice of half a lemon and the mascarpone. Add some seasoning then blend until smooth – the smoother the better.

When the orzo is cooked, add the puree into the risotto. Stir to combine, cook for 2 more minutes to allow it to heat through. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.

Serve the risotto with the trout, a handful of fresh watercress leaves and a lemon segment.

Method

Grate the potato and strain it to remove the water content. You can do this either using a clean muslin cloth or tea towel. Add into a large bowl.

If using horseradish root, grate it into the same bowl.

Finely slice the leek and add that in too. Then break the eggs in, generously season and stir well.

Flake half of the trout into the mixture and gentle fold in being careful not to break the flakes up too much.

In a medium sized frying pan on a medium heat, add 1 tbsp of olive oil. When hot, add the rösti mixture in and pat down firmly, tucking in the sides to make it neater. Fry for about 10-15 minutes or until golden and crispy, then flip. I usually flip it out onto a plate, put a little more oil in the pan, then slide the rösti back in so it stays intact. Cook for a further 5-10 minutes to get the other side golden and crispy too.

To serve, flip the rösti on to a plate. Decorate the top with more of the trout, horseradish sauce, dill and choice of lettuce.

Enjoy!

Method

Start with preparing the pickled red chillies ahead of time.

I’ve recently inherited a Kenwood food mixer that has a dough hook, so this recipe (based on this recipe from Jeremy Pang) uses that. I’ve made bao plenty of times before using the manual kneading process and they work out just the same. Today I’m choosing to drink beer in the time I’ve saved not kneading these delightful little buns.

First, add the flour, salt, yeast, caster sugar, baking powder to the mixing bowl. In another dish, combine the milk, warm water and vegetable oil.

Drizzle a little of the liquid into the flour mixture and start the mixer going for 2 minutes on a slow speed – adding in the liquid a little at a time. Increase the speed and let it go for a further 2 minutes until the dough is formed but still a little tacky. Sprinkle over a little flour and form into a ball. Coat the ball with about ½ tbsp of vegetable oil and put back into the bowl. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and set aside to prove for an hour or until doubled in size.

Whilst the dough is proving, you can start marinating the trout. In a bowl big enough to hold the trout fillets, combine the soy, ginger, garlic and chilli for the marinade and stir.

Remove the skin from the trout fillets by placing the fillets on a board, skin side down, then with a large sharp knife, cut into the trout as close to the skin as possible. I find it easier cutting outward first so I create a tab of skin I can hold. Once the first cuts have been made you can hold the skin taught using the tab and cut the remaining skin off with a flat knife.

Rub each side of the skins with table salt and place the skins flat on some good quality kitchen roll to absorb any moisture. Cover with some more kitchen roll on top and place a little weight on top. Set aside and leave for 30 minutes.

Add the trout fillets into the marinade, ensuring they’re coated on all sides. Leave for at least 30 minutes.

Pre-heat the grill to 230°C (or high grill). Remove the skins from the kitchen roll and place onto a grill tray. They should feel pretty dry by now. Place under the grill on the top shelf, for around 5 minutes on each side or until crisp (but not burnt).

When the crispy skin is done, set the oven to 180°C. Have a peek at the dough at this point, it should be pretty much double in size at this point. If it looks like it needs more time to prove then you may want to wait a little longer to cook the trout. Whilst the oven is adjusting to temperature, add the trout and marinade to the centre of some foil and make a parcel with it. Scrunch it at the top so it cooks in all those lovely marinading juices. Cook for 20 minutes.

When the bao mixture has doubled in size, place it on a large flat surface with a little flour. With a rolling pin, roll it out so it’s about 1cm thick. With a round cutter (no smaller than 9cm in diameter), cut out as many circles as you can with the dough. Ball together any off-cuts and make an extra bao. Rub the top of the bao with oil, fold in half then use the rolling pin to flatten and shape it into that classic bao shape. Place each bun onto a little square bit of baking paper. You can use this when steaming in a moment. Set a side and keep covered so they don’t dry out.

Whilst the trout is cooking, chop the cucumbers and get your toppings ready to assemble. Add water to the steamer and place on a medium heat.

When the trout is done, remove from the oven and open the foil carefully. Make a little spout from the foil and pour the juices into a small frying pan on a medium heat. Flake the rest of the trout into large chunks and keep wrapped up in the foil until the buns are cooked.

Start steaming your baos – about 6-8 mins per batch of baos depending on the size. Remove from steamer and set aside. They’re more malleable when they’re warm so sometimes I press the centre down a little to help fit more filling in.

Whilst the buns are steaming, add 1 tbsp of soy sauce, honey and the rice wine vinegar. Stirring frequently to prevent burning and to help thicken the sauce.

When you’re ready to assemble, place 3 slices of cucumber on the bottom of the bun, add the flaked trout on top with a drizzle of the sauce. Top with a few pickled chillies, Kewpie mayonnaise and coriander and don’t forget that shard of crispy fish skin. The crispy skin won’t be enough for all baos but they still taste great without.

Enjoy!

Method

Fry the onion in a large saucepan. Add the stock and add the asparagus and mushrooms for a few moments then remove from the heat. When the mixture has cooled slightly add in the cooked broad beans, crème fraîche, lemon juice and lemon rind. Stir well, season then taste. Adjust seasoning as appropriate.

Meanwhile, remove the skin from trout. If you hate food waste as much as us then you can turn this into fish crackling by drying it out and putting under the grill until crispy. Dice the trout up into 3cm chunks and add into the cooled mixture. Stir and set aside.

Next, make the white sauce by melting the butter in pan. When melted, add the flour in and combine to make a paste, then cook for a further 2 minutes. Gradually add the milk, stirring constantly, until it thickens. Season with nutmeg, salt and pepper and a little extra lemon rind if you fancy. Remove from heat.

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.

When you’re ready to start assembling your lasagne, spoon in half of the trout mixture into an oven proof roasting dish. Cover with a single layer of your lasagne sheets (snapping to fit if needed). Then spoon over the remaining mixture. Add another layer of lasagne sheets then drizzle the béchamel sauce on top. Grate the parmesan to your hearts content.

Place into the oven on a baking tray to catch any overspill. Bake for 40 minutes then remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes before serving.