Trout cocktail boats

Trout cocktail boats

Impress your guests with a twist on everyone’s favourite retro dish, the timeless prawn cocktail. Prawns are swapped with homemade triple-citrus cured trout, bursting with zesty flavour and boasting the punch of crowd pleasing marie rose. These dainty beauties will be the talk of the party.

Trout cocktail boats

For more Christmas canapés, browse our collection.

  • Serves icon Makes 20-25
  • Time icon Hands-on time 30 min, plus 8-12 hours curing

Impress your guests with a twist on everyone’s favourite retro dish, the timeless prawn cocktail. Prawns are swapped with homemade triple-citrus cured trout, bursting with zesty flavour and boasting the punch of crowd pleasing marie rose. These dainty beauties will be the talk of the party.

For more Christmas canapés, browse our collection.

Nutrition: Per cup (for 25)

Calories
73kcals
Fat
5.6g (0.8g saturated)
Protein
3.2g
Carbohydrates
1.6g (1.4g sugars)
Fibre
0.8g
Salt
0.5g

Ingredients

  • 1 tsp fennel seeds
  • ½ tsp black peppercorns
  • 40g sea salt flakes
  •  tsp smoked paprika
  • 10g granulated sugar
  • Finely grated zest 1 lemon, plus a squeeze of juice
  • Finely grated zest 1 lime
  • Finely grated zest ½ grapefruit
  • 350g trout fillet, skin on (about half a large side), pin-boned
  • 2-3 little gem lettuces, separated into 20-25 leaves
  • 2 avocados
  • Smoked paprika to dust
  • Dill fronds to serve

For the sauce

  • 4 tbsp mayonnaise
  • 4 tbsp ketchup
  • ½ tsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 2-3 drops Tabasco sauce
  • Squeeze lemon juice
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Method

  1. Begin by curing the trout for 8-12 hours. Grind the fennel seeds and peppercorns with a pestle and mortar until fine, then add the salt and grind a little until coarse. Stir in the smoked paprika, sugar and citrus zests.
  2. Sprinkle a third of the mixture into your dish and spread out to the shape and size of your trout, then lay the fish skin-side down on top and sprinkle over the rest of the cure. Pat down to cover the whole thing, then cover (I use a chopping board) and put in the fridge for 8-12 hours. The longer you leave it, the stronger the flavour will be.
  3. Once cured, run the fish under cold water to wash off the cure. Slice off and discard the skin, then dice the trout into roughly 1cm cubes. The edge slices may be a little too salty, so taste first and remove if necessary. Squeeze a little lemon juice over the top before serving.
  4. Trim the little gem leaves and put in a bowl of iced water to crisp them up into stronger vessels for the filling. Make the marie rose sauce by mixing the mayo, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce and Tabasco, then taste and season with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Dice the avocados into 5mm cubes.
  5. To assemble, spoon a little avocado into the bottom of each lettuce cup, followed by a spoonful of cured trout, then dollop a spoonful of sauce over the top. Finish with a crack of black pepper, a pinch of smoked paprika and a dill frond.

Nutrition

Nutrition: per serving
Calories
73kcals
Fat
5.6g (0.8g saturated)
Protein
3.2g
Carbohydrates
1.6g (1.4g sugars)
Fibre
0.8g
Salt
0.5g

delicious. tips

  1. Don’t waste it The edges can be too salty to eat, so it’s better to cure a bigger piece of fish as it gives less waste. You may be curing more than you need, but the leftovers are great with scrambled eggs.

     

  2. It’s essential you use the freshest trout you can get your hands on, as it’s only lightly cured – so it won’t be as well preserved or as heavily flavoured as something like smoked salmon.

Buy ingredients online

Recipe By:

Pollyanna Coupland
Food producer, delicious.

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