Grilled Whole Fish in Pancetta with Tarragon Aioli

Summer is here and in Colorado, that means a visit or two to the great outdoors. This is a great dish to make with your fresh catch – no matter what it may be. Just make sure that if you’re camping, you keep your pancetta cold until you’re ready to use it. Speaking of pancetta, it’s one of my favorite ingredients which can be used in almost any recipe that calls for bacon. Having a hard time finding pancetta? Then feel free to substitute thinly sliced bacon or even prosciutto in this dish. A great accompaniment to this dish is roasted baby potatoes.

Tarragon Aioli

1 cup mayonnaise

2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1 Tbsp fresh tarragon, chopped

1 Tbsp fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped

2 tsp white wine vinegar

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tsp fresh lemon juice

In a blender or food processor, combine all ingredients above and process until smooth. Keep chilled until ready to use.

Grilled Whole Fish in Pancetta

4 whole fish, about 1 lb. each, cleaned (I prefer trout, but feel free to substitute bluefish, whitefish, snapper … whatever you can catch!)

½ cup fresh tarragon

½ cup fresh thyme

½ cup fresh flat-leaf parsley

4 cloves garlic, crushed

good quality extra virgin olive oil

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 lb. thinly sliced pancetta

Preheat grill to medium heat. If using a charcoal grill, arrange coals so that fish cooks over indirect heat.

To prepare fish, rinse well and pat dry. Rub cavity with a small amount of olive oil, then sprinkle salt and pepper inside, rubbing to distribute. Place equal amounts of fresh herbs and one crushed garlic clove into the cavity of each fish. Repeat oil and seasoning to outside of fish and wrap loosely with the pancetta (head and tail should remain exposed). Fish can be chilled at this point until ready to cook.

Place fish on grate of grill and cook until opaque, about 10-15 minutes total, turning only once halfway through cooking. Pancetta will be crisp and fish will be moist in the center.

Serves 4

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