Recipe: Smoked Stuffed Trout with Farro & Greens

The very first night, within an hour of unloading my new Big Green Egg, I fired it up. Eric had bought some wonderful looking Rainbow Trout, and we decided to smoke-roast it on the Egg as a christening.

I'm also on a latent farro kick. Latent because back when every food blogger was bowing to the hip "new" Italian grain, I was digging in my heels, saying, "Why should I spend $8.50 on a little bag of stinkin' grain?"

I still kind of think that, but I do see what all the hub bub is about. The kernels are so...meaty. And they take on flavors so delicately. E' bellissimo, the farro. Farro, by the way, is a generic word for wheat in Italy, and they note it as farro small, medium, or large. The stuff that we get in the expensive little bag at the fancy grocery store, is a very large variety. It may actually be some variety of spelt.

Eight plus bucks for a small bag, though. Come on! This is something I'll only cook with something special, like the trout I'm about to show ya, if I'd stop yapping already.

This recipe is easy. With a Big Green Egg, you can do it blindfolded. At least after the charcoal is lit. This works perfectly well on a gas grill too, cooked indirectly.

Smoked Stuff Trout with Farro and Greens
© Julie Reinhardt

2 Rainbow trout, book cut (see below)
2 cups cooked farro
1 cup Swiss Chard, chopped fine
3 tablespoons chopped tarragon (or herb of your choice)

2/3 cup grated Parmesan

4 tablespoons melted butter

salt and pepper

Step-by-Step

1. Cook farro in salted water, set aside.

2. Book cut trout, meaning cut down one side of the bones as if filleting the fish, only don't cut all the way through. This way the fish opens flat like so:

3. Mix remaining ingredients together and stuff fish.

4. Smoke-roast at 250-300 degrees for 45 minutes to one hour. (I used plum wood because we have plum trees and other fruit trees that give us year-round free smoking wood. Use what you have on hand. Alder is nice for fish.)

What I loved about this dish, aside from the lovely smokiness of it, was that it made a whole meal! The grain, greens and fish are all in one. I made a simple heirloom tomato salad with nothing but salt on it to balance out the flavors.

I must add one note that the pictures on this post, and for the next week or so, will be sub-par. I've lost my camera. Lost it! I can only hope it's buried under something in my office and will re-surface soon, which tells you a little about the state of affairs in my office. I'm left with my phone camera, which is fine for a quick shot of the kids, because they are cute no matter what, but doesn't quite capture food well enough.

I really don't want to buy another camera. Correction, I do want to buy another camera, but can't really afford the one I want. But I digress...

Happy cooking everyone!