Stuffed Ohrid trout

Method

1. Wash the fish inside and out and dry them well. Season with salt, squeeze over the juice of half the lemon and leave for 20 minutes somewhere cool.
2. Wash the spinach leaf by leaf and dip it into boiling water for ten seconds, then straight into cold. Wring it out by hand — the more water you get out, the better the filling holds.
3. Sweat the finely chopped onion and garlic in a little oil until soft, then add the drained, chopped spinach and give it two minutes.
4. Let the mixture cool, then stir in the crumbled cheese, one egg, half the sour cream, the dill, salt and pepper. It must be cool, or the egg sets on contact.
5. Fill each fish with the stuffing and pin the opening shut with cocktail sticks. Do not overfill — the stuffing swells as it bakes.
6. Lay them in a greased dish, brush with the oil and with the remaining sour cream beaten with the second egg, and arrange thin lemon rounds over the top.
7. Bake at 200 °C for about 30–35 minutes, until the skin has coloured and the stuffing is set. Rest for five minutes before serving.