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Recipe · Direct · Easy

Grilled Navarre-Style Trout on the Kamado, Stuffed with Ham

Classic trucha a la navarra is fried. This version goes over direct fire at 250 °C: toasted, crisp skin, serrano ham inside and 10-12 minutes on the grate. It fits a Tuesday-night dinner.

Quick answer

Stuff each portion trout (300-350 g) with two slices of serrano ham, dry and oil the skin and grill it direct on the kamado at 250 °C over a very hot grate: 5-6 minutes untouched, turn with a fish spatula, then 4-5 minutes more, to 60 °C by the bone. Serve with garlic, parsley and lemon.

Trucha entera de piel dorada, marcada por los barrotes de la parrilla y salpicada de sal en escamas, en un plato oscuro con zanahorias asadas, puerro, perifollo y puré anaranjado, junto a un tenedor y un cuchillo sobre una servilletaSave to Pinterest
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Prep
20 min
Cook
15 min
Servings
3 servings
Temperature
250 °C

Ingredients

  • portion-sized rainbow trout (300-350 g each), cleaned, whole, head and bone in3 ud
  • serrano ham (jamón serrano) in thin slices (9 slices: 6 for stuffing and 3 for crisping)135 g
  • extra virgin olive oil for the skin30 ml
  • extra virgin olive oil for the dressing60 ml
  • garlic cloves, very finely chopped2 ud
  • fresh parsley, chopped15 g
  • lemons (one for the dressing and one cut into wedges to serve)2 ud
  • fine salt (go easy: the ham is already salty)1 cdita
  • freshly ground black pepper1 pizca

The gear for this recipe

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Method

  1. 01

    Light for direct cooking

    Fill the firebox with Jealous Devil charcoal. With a firelighter, light one spot, leave the lid open until you see live embers and close it with the vents open. On the Konnected Joe you can use its automatic igniter, which works with the dome closed and the vents open, according to the maker. With no deflector and the grate in its normal position, when the dome thermometer reads 250 °C adjust the vents to hold it and let the grate heat for at least 10 minutes more.

  2. 02

    Dry and season

    While the kamado climbs, dry the trout with kitchen paper outside and inside the belly: damp skin is the skin that sticks. Season the cavity with a pinch of salt and pepper, and go light on the salt because the ham already brings plenty. Do not slash the skin: on a 300-350 g trout the heat reaches the centre without cuts, and cuts are where the skin tears when you turn it.

  3. 03

    Stuff with ham

    Fold two slices of serrano ham lengthways and tuck them into the belly of each trout, well inside, so none pokes out over the edge: ham left outside burns over the embers. Close the belly by pressing with your hand. If it gapes too much, pin it with a wooden cocktail stick soaked for 10 minutes in water. Keep the three remaining slices for the end.

  4. 04

    Make the dressing

    Before the trout goes into the kamado, get the dressing ready, because everything moves fast afterwards. In a bowl, mix the very finely chopped garlic, the parsley, the zest and juice of one lemon, the 60 ml of oil and a pinch of salt. Cut the other lemon into wedges. Have the thermometer, the spatula, the gloves and a warm serving dish within reach.

  5. 05

    Onto the grate

    Open the kamado with burping: lift the lid about 5 cm, wait about 5 seconds and then open it fully, wearing gloves and keeping your face turned away. Brush the grate. Brush the trout skin with the 30 ml of oil, salt it on the outside and lay the fish diagonally across the bars, apart from each other. On a 46 cm grate three fit comfortably. Close the lid.

  6. 06

    First side, untouched

    Leave the trout for 5-6 minutes with the lid closed and the vents as they were, at 250 °C. Do not move it or lift it to look. After that time, open with burping and slide the spatula under the skin along the back. If it comes away clean, it is ready to turn; if it resists, close the lid and give it another minute: toasted skin lets go by itself.

  7. 07

    Turn and probe

    Wearing a glove, slide the La Cuisine spatula in along the back, not the belly, so the filling stays put, and turn the trout while steadying it from above with the other hand. Close the lid and count 4-5 minutes. Open with burping and push the DOQAUS into the thickest part of the back, next to the bone, without touching the bone or the ham. Take it off at 60 °C.

  8. 08

    Crisp ham and serve

    With the trout already on the dish, lay the three reserved slices of ham on the hot grate for 20-30 seconds each side, until they are no longer soft and start to curl. After a minute's cooling they turn crisp. Remove the cocktail sticks, spoon the garlic, parsley and lemon dressing over each trout, top with a crisped slice and serve with the lemon wedges.

About this recipe

Trucha a la navarra (Navarre-style trout) is a classic of river cooking: a portion-sized trout opened along the belly, jamón serrano (Spanish dry-cured ham) tucked inside, then flour and a pan of generous oil. This recipe is not that one, and it is worth saying so from the start. Here the trout goes over the kamado's direct fire, with no flour and no frying, and what was a golden coating in the pan becomes toasted skin. The filling stays where it was. It is the first river fish in this collection and it is done in 10-12 minutes on the grate.

A grilled version, not the fried recipe

In the pan, the flour protects the flesh. Over embers the skin does it: trout skin is thin, with a layer of fat underneath, and at 250 °C in direct cooking that fat melts, the skin dries and browns through the Maillard reaction. The ham brings the salt and the cured note, and its fat melts towards the loin as the fish cooks. You lose the coating and gain charcoal smoke with far less oil. The trout you find at the fishmonger all year round is farmed rainbow trout, the third-ranked species in Spanish aquaculture, cheap and very regular in portion size. If you have already made the butterflied dorada (dorada a la espalda) or the sardines al espeto (skewered over embers), the support changes here: the trout goes on whole and closed, straight onto the bars, with no plancha (griddle plate) or basket.

Direct fire, a full firebox and vents in hand

This is a direct cook: no deflector, the grate in its usual place and the embers underneath. Fill the firebox even though you will only cook for twelve minutes, as the charcoal guide for kamados explains: the vents set the temperature, not the quantity, and whatever does not burn is there for next time. A white quebracho lump such as Jealous Devil comes in big pieces that let air through with the vents part open and, according to the maker, leaves very little ash. On the 46 cm Konnected Joe, the automatic igniter can light the charcoal if you want to use it, but the fan controller has no part to play in a cook this short: you work in manual mode, with the vents, as on any kamado. Those 46 cm hold three portion trout comfortably.

Keeping the skin from sticking, and 60 °C by the bone

The classic failure with whole fish over direct heat is leaving half the skin on the bars. Three things prevent it. A very hot, clean grate: give it at least 10 minutes at 250 °C with the lid closed and brush it just before the fish goes on. Skin dried with kitchen paper inside and out, and oiled at the last moment. And patience: the trout is not touched until it releases by itself. To turn it, a thin fish spatula such as the slotted La Cuisine slides under the skin without tearing it, and its 16 cm blade supports the middle of the back while your other hand steadies the fish from above. It is short for working over live embers, so wear a glove.

The clock gives a rough guide and the thermometer decides. Trout is juicy between 55 and 60 °C at the thickest part of the back; here it comes off at 60 °C, the top of that range: next to the bone and with the ham inside, that is the last part to cook. If it is river (wild) trout, hold it a minute longer at 60 °C, the AESAN (Spanish food safety agency) reference against anisakis. An instant thermometer such as the DOQAUS, which reads in 3 seconds according to its data sheet, keeps the lid open only as long as needed. And with the kamado at 250 °C and the vents part open, every opening is done with burping: lift the lid about 5 cm, wait about 5 seconds and then open it fully, wearing gloves and keeping your face turned away.

In 30 seconds

Portion rainbow trout (300-350 g) stuffed with two slices of serrano ham, skin dry and oiled, kamado direct at 250 °C with a hot grate, 5-6 minutes untouched, turn with a fish spatula and 4-5 minutes more, to 60 °C by the bone. Burp the lid every time you open it. Garlic, parsley and lemon to serve. This is a grilled version: the classic is fried.

Editor's tips

  • Oil the skin of the fish, not the grate: oil falling on bars at 250 °C smokes, burns and can flare, whereas the oil on the skin helps it brown and release.
  • If dripping oil raises flames, close the lid: with the dome shut, air only comes in through the vents and the flames die down; if they persist, close the bottom vent a little and open again with burping. Do not cook with the lid half open to watch them: that feeds the fire and exposes you to a flare-up when you open it.
  • Filleted trout is not suited to this technique: with no bone and the flesh exposed, it breaks apart on the bars. If that is what you have, grill it skin side down on a plancha, as with the butterflied dorada.
  • For more than three diners, cook two batches instead of squeezing four trout onto a 46 cm grate. If they touch, they steam at the sides and the skin there does not toast.

Gear for this recipe

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  • Kamado Joe Konnected Joe

    Kamado Joe Konnected Joe

    A portion trout cooked direct calls for a big, hot grate, not a fan. The 46 cm **Konnected Joe** has room for three trout of 31-32 cm without them touching, and its ceramic, soaked with heat, helps the chamber recover as soon as you close the lid after turning them. Its automatic igniter can light the charcoal and save you the firelighter, but the fan is not needed for twelve minutes on the grate: you cook in what the maker calls Classic Cook Mode, with the top and bottom vents, just as on any kamado of that size. In other words, this recipe does not need its electronics; it makes use of the ceramic and the diameter.

    €3,140

    View on AmazonRead review
  • Jealous Devil 100% Quebracho Blanco carbón lump 15.8 kg

    Jealous Devil 100% White Quebracho lump charcoal 15.8 kg

    To hold 250 °C with the vents part open, air has to pass between the embers without ash blocking the intake. **Jealous Devil** is Paraguayan white quebracho lump in big pieces, and the maker describes it as very low in ash and very mild in flavour, suited to fish as well. It is not an odourless fuel: it leaves a discreet toasty background that, over twelve minutes on the grill, accompanies the ham without covering it, as the [guide to woods for smoking in a kamado](/guias/maderas-para-ahumar-kamado) explains. With the firebox full, whatever does not burn in these twelve minutes goes out when you close the vents and is saved for the next cook. The biggest pieces are best broken up so the bed under the grate is even.

    €205

    View on AmazonRead review
  • La Cuisine Espátula ranurada con borde biselado de acero inoxidable, para voltear pescado, huevo, panqueques, patatas fr (vista 1)

    La Cuisine Spatola a fessura: slotted stainless fish slice, 28 cm

    The turn is the moment a whole trout breaks or stays stuck. The slotted fish spatula from **La Cuisine** has a thin, bevelled 16 cm blade that slides under toasted skin without tearing it and supports the middle of the back of a portion trout; with your other hand steadying it from above, the fish turns in one piece and the ham stays in the belly. The slots let oil drain away rather than dragging it across the skin. It measures 28 cm overall, so it is short for working over live embers at 250 °C: always use it with a glove and with your hand above the fish, not over the charcoal.

    €10

    View on AmazonRead review
  • DOQAUS Termometro Cocina Sonda Plegable, Lectura Instantánea 3s (Negro) (vista 1)

    DOQAUS instant-read thermometer, folding probe, 3-second read

    Between 55 and 60 °C trout is juicy; a few degrees more and it dries out, because it is a thin fish with little margin. An instant thermometer such as the **DOQAUS** settles the question at the back, next to the bone, without having to open the trout. Here it comes off at 60 °C, the top of the range: next to the bone and with the ham inside, that is the last part to cook. If it is river (wild) trout, hold it a minute longer at 60 °C, the AESAN (Spanish food safety agency) reference against anisakis.

    €8

    View on AmazonRead review

FAQ

  • How long does trout take on the barbecue?

    A portion trout of 300-350 g, cooked direct in the kamado at 250 °C, needs 5-6 minutes on the first side and 4-5 on the second, around 10-12 minutes in total. That timing is a guide, but the thermometer decides: trout is juicy at 55-60 °C at the thickest part of the back, next to the bone, and here it comes off at 60 °C, the top of the range: next to the bone and with the ham inside, that is the last part to cook. If it is river (wild) trout, hold it a minute longer at 60 °C, the AESAN (Spanish food safety agency) reference against anisakis. A bigger trout needs more minutes and the same final reading.

  • How do you stop trout sticking to the grill?

    A very hot, clean grate, dry and oiled skin, and no touching the fish. Let the grate sit for at least 10 minutes at 250 °C with the lid closed and brush it just before cooking. Dry the trout with kitchen paper, oil the skin at the last moment and do not move it for the first 5-6 minutes. Once the skin is toasted it releases by itself; if it resists when the spatula goes in, it needs another minute.

  • Is trucha a la navarra fried or grilled?

    The traditional recipe is fried: the trout is stuffed with serrano ham, dredged in flour and fried in generous oil, sometimes with the ham slices fried too. This recipe is a grilled version with the same filling, without flour and without frying: the crisp skin comes from the kamado's direct heat and not from a coating. It uses less oil and adds the flavour of charcoal.

  • Which ham works best in trucha a la navarra?

    Serrano ham in thin, medium-cured slices: it melts in the heat without turning hard. Two slices per trout are enough, and since the ham already brings the salt, season the cavity very lightly. Acorn-fed ibérico also works, but its fine fat is lost over 250 °C of direct embers; serrano is the better fit here.

  • Can you grill trout in aluminium foil?

    You can, but it is a different dish. Wrapped in aluminium foil, the trout steams in its own juices: it stays tender and does not stick, although the skin comes out soft and without the toasting of the embers. This recipe goes without foil precisely to get crisp skin. If you do wrap it, the doneness check is the same, with the thermometer at 60 °C next to the bone.

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