Hot-smoked honey trout with smoky beetroot ’tzatziki’

Method

1. Lay the trout fillets on a plate, skin-side down. Pour the honey and olive oil into a small bowl and add the paprika, some salt and a good grind of pepper, stirring together well. Pour over the trout and rub all over using clean hands or a silicone brush. Set aside in the fridge while you light the barbecue.
2. You want to cook over an indirect smoky heat, so light charcoal on one half of the barbecue. Once the coals are hot, pop a lump or two of smoking wood on top. Shut the lid and adjust your air vents top and bottom to give you a nice steady heat of around 180°C.
3. Dice the beetroot into 1cm chunks and tip into a small fireproof pan (an enamel tin, small frying pan or roasting dish is perfect). Drizzle over the olive oil and season with a little salt and pepper, tossing to mix. Take the trout and rest on a perforated grilling tray – or a sheet of foil pricked all over with a fork if you don’t have one – skin-side down. Sit both the beetroot and fish on the grill, away from the hot coals, and cover (if your barbecue is too small for both, cook the beetroot first). Leave to roast gently in the smoke for 15 minutes.
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4. Remove the beetroot but continue cooking the trout for another 15 minutes. If you have a temperature probe, you want it to read 60°C deep in the centre of the fillets. If you don’t have a probe, tease apart with a fork; it should flake easily.
5. Finely chop the beetroot, then leave to cool a little. When the trout is nearly finished, spoon the yogurt into a bowl and stir in the garlic and a little salt and pepper. Scoop up about two thirds of the chopped beetroot and fold it into the yogurt. Divide among 4 plates, spreading it out into a layer but leaving some nice dips and furrows. Drizzle generously with extra-virgin olive oil and sprinkle over the reserved beetroot.
6. Once the trout is done, lift off the barbecue. To transfer to the plates, you should be able to easily slide a fish slice between the skin and the flesh, leaving the skin behind. Sprinkle over the pistachios and herbs. Serve with plenty of flatbreads to scoop up the beetroot yogurt.