Baked Steelhead Trout with Pistachio and Pumpkin Seed Pangrattato

January is usually a month of lighter eating, for us. After all the heavy foods that come with December, I always enter the new year with cravings for fresh produce, bright soups, and fish!

This dish was inspired by a recipe from the oh-so-lovely cookbook, How To Eat a Peach: Menus, Stories and Places. Ever since I first made Diana Henry’s Spatchcock Chicken with Almond Pangrattato (another word for breadcrumbs), I’ve been coming up with all sorts of reasons to play around with the delicious topping. And this recipe turned out to be my favourite combination!

It’s always nice to use homemade breadcrumbs, if you can, but it’s certainly not something to stress over. If you don’t have a stale loaf of bread handy or some breadcrumbs that you’ve gathered for a time like this, store-bought crumbs will do just fine! This recipe has lots of flavour to make up for it. However, I do recommend getting them unseasoned to ensure you have full control over the flavour and saltiness of your final dish. It’s also not a bad idea to use unsalted pistachios, in order to avoid over-salting. That being said, I’ve used both salted and unsalted pistachios, and both worked wonderfully!

Print Recipe

Steelhead Trout with Pistachio and Pumpkin Seed Pangrattato

An easy steelhead trout recipe with a bright and citrusy breadcrumb topping…

Course Dinner, Main Course

Keyword Baked, Breadcrumbs, Dinner, Fish, Pangrattato, Pistachio, Pumpkin Seed, Steelhead Trout, Trout

Author Alexandra Joy

Ingredients

• 2 Lb Steelhead Trout Fillet
• 1/4 Cup Butter
• 1/3 Cup Olive Oil
• 2/3 Cup Breadcrumbs, homemade or store-bought
• 1/4 Cup Shelled Pistachios, roughly chopped
• 2 Tbsp Pumpkin Seeds, roughly chopped
• 6 Cloves Garlic, 3 minced and 3 smashed
• 1 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
• 1/3 Cup Parsley, roughly chopped
• 2 Lemons, 1 sliced thin and the other zested and juiced
• Salt & Pepper, to taste

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 400ºF
• Line a baking sheet with a large enough piece of tinfoil to wrap around and seal the entire fillet. Lay the fish in the centre, skin-side down, and salt it generously.
• Place a skillet over medium heat. Once hot, melt the butter and add the smashed garlic to the pan. Sauté the garlic for a few minutes, stirring constantly, until it starts to soften and becomes quite fragrant. Make sure the butter doesn’t brown!
• Remove the pan from the heat and discard the garlic. Fold the sides of the foil off the pan slightly (so the butter pools toward the fish), and pour the melted butter over the entire fillet. Lay the lemon slices evenly overtop of the fish, and seal the foil around it completely. Place it in the oven to bake for approximately 22-25 minutes.
• While the trout is baking, get started on the pangrattato. Wipe the skillet clean and return it to medium heat. Once hot, add the olive oil to the pan, then add the breadcrumbs and allow them to cook, stirring constantly, for about 5 minutes or until golden brown.
• Add the minced garlic, pistachios, pumpkin seeds, and red pepper flakes to the breadcrumb mixture, and allow to cook for another 2-3 minutes. The mixture should be fragrant and darkened in colour. Salt and pepper it to taste, and remove it from the heat. Stir in the parsley and zest of one lemon, cover, and set aside.
• When the fish is done, it will be opaque and flake easily at the prick of a fork. Check it in the thickest areas to be sure, and return it to the oven for a few extra minutes at a time, if it’s not quite done.
• Once finished, remove the fish from the oven. Open the foil, cover with the pangrattato mixture and squeeze the juices of the zested lemon overtop. The meat of the fish will slide right off the skin, making easy to divide and serve!
• Enjoy!

Notes

If you’d like to add a bit of colour to the fish, give it a quick broil before removing it from the oven. Just be careful not to overcook it!