red river trout, lentils, croutons

You might be making this for one, as I did, but you may as well make enough of the lentils for four servings and refrigerate or freeze what you don't use immediately.

I fell in love with Jules & Sharpie's Hot Pepper Jelly a while back, but recently bought a jar of the equally delicious Chilli Yellow Pepper Jelly from Stokes and it was the latter I used here. If you're using another make of jelly, add just one tablespoon at first then more as needed - yours might be hotter.

for the lentils (makes 4 servings):
200g puy lentils
olive oil
½ onion, finely diced
1 small carrot, peeled and finely diced
1 small stick celery, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 chorizo sausage (approx. 60g), skin removed, diced
100ml red wine
2 tbsps hot pepper jelly  (see note above)
juice of half a lemon
salt
a handful of parsley, finely chopped

for the trout:
1 trout fillet
salt + black pepper
a splash of olive oil
½ lemon

a handful of tiny croutons

Put the lentils in a pan with plenty of water, bring to the boil and simmer until the lentils are tender, about 20-25 minutes. Drain.

You can make the croutons while the lentils are simmering:  coat a handful of diced bread with oil in a small roasting tray and place in a 200C/180C fan oven for about 5 minutes.

Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a pan and add the onion, carrot and celery. Fry until softened, turn up the heat and add the garlic and chorizo. Fry, stirring regularly, for about 5 minutes. Pour in the wine and let it bubble away until reduced to a few spoonfuls. Add the hot pepper jelly and let it melt. Add the lentils and lemon juice and season with salt. Stir in the parsley, drizzle with more olive oil and set aside.

Heat a frying pan to fairly high. Add a good splash of oil and place the fish skin-side down, holding it down with a spatula so it doesn't arch up as the skin shrinks. Turn the fillet over after about 4 minutes and fry for one minute. Squeeze over the juice from the other lemon half and serve with a dollop of the lentils and a scattering of croutons.