Smoked trout rillette with dill, crème fraîche and lemon, then toped it with quick pickled fennel for a clean, crunchy hit. Chill it, drizzle with olive oil and pile on lavosh. Easy to prep, great to share!
Category
Snack
Servings
6
Prep time
15 minutes
Cook time
6 minutes
Smoked trout rillette with dill, crème fraîche and lemon, then toped it with quick pickled fennel for a clean, crunchy hit. Chill it, drizzle with olive oil and pile on lavosh. Easy to prep, great to share!
Ingredients
- 300g whole smoked trout
- 1 tbsp finely chopped dill
- 80g (⅓ cup) crème fraîche
- 1 tbsp seeded mustard
- zest and juice of 1 lemon
- olive oil to drizzle, lavosh crackers, to serve
- 80ml (⅓ cup) Champagne vinegar
- 160ml (⅔ cup) water
- 1 tbsp caster sugar
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 6 black peppercorns
- tops of 1 fennel bulb
Rillette
Pickled fennel
Directions
Prep the trout
Flake the trout into a medium bowl, discarding the skin and bones.
- Stir in the dill, creme fraiche, mustard, lemon zest and juice. Mix gently, trying to keep the fish in as large pieces as possible.
- Spread rillette into serving dishes, then cover and refrigerate.
Prep the pickled fennel
Combine the vinegar, water, sugar, salt and peppercorns in a small saucepan over medium heat.
- Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes.
- Remove the fronds from the fennel tops and reserve for garnish. Slice the tops 3mm thick.
- Add the fennel to the saucepan and cook for 30 seconds. Remove from the heat and transfer to a heatproof sterilised jar, seal with the lid and set aside to cool.
Finish and serve
Drizzle some olive oil over the top of the rillette and garnish with the reserved fennel fronds.
- Spoon the pickled fennel into small serving bowls and serve alongside the rillette with lavosh crackers.
Recipe notes
Origins
Trout rillette is a modern day adaptation to French rillettes, which date back to the 15th century. Traditionally rillettes involved slow-cooked pork or other meats in fat for preservation, while seafood rillettes are a lighter, more contemporary version of this.
Cook support
The fennel spices are added to the saucepan in this recipe since their fibrous nature require a little extra cooking time than having the hot pickling liquid poured over them.
Sourcing
If you are unable to find smoked trout, then substitute with another smoked fish such as hot smoked salmon or smoked cod or bluefish.
Substitutions
You could use the fennel fronds in the rillette mixture too instead of the dill if you didn’t have any on hand.
Storage
Store the rillette in the serving dish, covered or an airtight container and refrigerated.
