Trout baked in oak leaves

Name: Trout baked in oak leaves
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 2 portions
Ingredients: 2 fresh trout (± 300 g each), gutted; 8–10 young oak leaves (picked in May–June); 1 unwaxed lemon; 2 sprigs thyme; 20 g butter; salt and pepper; cotton kitchen string

Updated on 9 October 2026

Makes: 2 portions
Time: 40 min
From: Sessile oak

Ingredients

2 fresh trout (± 300 g each), gutted
8–10 young oak leaves (picked in May–June)
1 unwaxed lemon
2 sprigs thyme
20 g butter
salt and pepper
cotton kitchen string

Method

Pick the young oak leaves from a tree without oak processionary caterpillars or their nests. Rinse them, dip them in boiling water for 30 seconds and drain. This stops them tearing when you wrap the fish.
Heat the oven to 200 °C.
Pat the trout dry and rub the insides with salt and pepper. Put a few lemon slices, a sprig of thyme and a knob of butter in each belly.
Wrap each trout in 4–5 overlapping leaves and tie with kitchen string.
Place the parcels on a baking tray and bake for 20–25 minutes, until the flesh comes away easily from the bone at the thickest part.
Leave to rest for 3 minutes, snip the string and open the parcels at the table. Do not eat the oak leaves: they only add aroma and flavour.

Storing: Eat the fish straight away. Keep any leftovers, without the leaves, covered in the fridge and eat them within 1 day.