River fish and truffle from the woods of Molise on the same plate. The trout fillets are salted, floured and pan-fried in oil and half the butter, one side at a time, then deglazed with dry white wine. Truffle paste is dissolved into the pan juices along with hazelnuts — dried, toasted and cut into slivers.
The hazelnuts are what make this dish: their toasted note and the earthiness of the truffle work on the same wavelength and support a delicate fish like trout without overpowering it. The sauce is emulsified off the heat with the remaining butter — two spoonfuls per plate, chopped parsley, and more truffle shaved at the table.
The same sauce works with other delicate river and lake fish. If you cannot find truffle paste, finely chop 20 g of truffle and let it infuse in the pan juices for a couple of minutes before the hazelnuts go in. Serve with the same dry, savoury white used for deglazing, and keep a few toasted hazelnuts aside for a crunchy finish.
Ingredients
Ingredients
- Trout Fillets: 12 of 80 g each
- Hazelnuts: 100 g
- Truffle: 60 g (20 g of it as truffle paste)
- Butter: 50 g
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil: 100 ml
- Dry White Wine: 200 ml
- Flour: to taste
- Parsley: to taste
- Salt: to taste
- Pepper: to taste
Preparation
Browning the fillets
Salt, flour and brown the trout fillets in a pan with the oil and half the butter, taking care to colour one side first and then the other.
Deglazing
Drain off the cooking oil, deglaze with the white wine and let half of the liquid evaporate.
Truffle and hazelnut sauce
Add 20 g of truffle paste and the hazelnuts, already dried, toasted and cut into slivers; let the sauce take on flavour.
Emulsifying
Emulsify the sauce with the remaining butter.
Plating
Serve two fillets per person with two spoonfuls of sauce each, sprinkle with chopped parsley and shave more truffle straight at the table.
