Whole Grilled Fish
Do you grill in the winter? We do! And when I say “we,” I mean my husband. (He has been known to shovel a path in the snow to get to our grill…) This is a delicious fish dinner for those who are not scared of touching and looking at a whole fish – eyeballs and all! I love to make this with whole fresh rainbow trout, when I see it at the store. The flavor from the lemons and parsley, along with the smoky grill, give this dish just enough flavor, without overwhelming the fresh taste of fish itself.
  • CourseMain Course
Servings Prep Time
4people 15minutes
Cook Time
15minutes
Servings Prep Time
4people 15minutes
Cook Time
15minutes
Ingredients
  • 4-6 Whole rainbow troutbutterflied
  • 4in Lemons2 of them sliced into thin rounds and the other 2 slicedhalf to be grilled.
  • 1 bunch parsley
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • Olive oil
Instructions
  1. Preheat the grill on high.
  2. To prepare the fish, have all of your “stuffing” ingredients ready to go and a baking sheet on hand to place the fish when stuffing is complete. (You may need a second set of hands for this process, as it is easiest when one person holds open the fish and the other person sprinkles and stuffs.) Sprinkle both sides of the inside flesh of the fish liberally with salt and pepper. Place lemon slices in one row inside the fish. Place 4-5 parsley sprigs on top of the lemon. Close the now stuffed fish and place on a baking sheet. Repeat this process with each of the fish. Before grilling, rub skin of the fish (both sides) with oil, to add flavor and prevent from sticking to the grill.
  3. Before placing the fish on the grill, season it to help prevent sticking. Take a wad of paper towels and dip them in vegetable oil. Using tongs, rub the oiled paper towel wad on the grill grates to season them. Then, place the fish on the grill (still over high heat) and cook on each side for 7-8 minutes. If you have very large trout, you may want to cook for longer, until the flesh of the fish is cooked through. You can also grill the two halved lemons, cut side down, and removed from the grill once they begin to char. These roasted lemons are both beautiful to serve alongside the fish and have a delicious flavor when squeezed on the fish.
  4. For those who are not scared of a whole fish, remove the stuffing and place the whole fish on the plate. If you have never eaten whole trout, you will see that there is a row of bones, which you should be able to easily remove in one-fell swoop, like in the cartoons. Once you have done that, the flesh will be exposed and you can dig in! (If the skin is crispy, make sure to try that too!) If you have eaters who don’t want to see the whole fish, you can simply do the work of removing the flesh and plating it for them. Don’t forget to squeeze some of the grilled lemons over top.