Fish pie

Recipes

Fish pie recipe — Fish pie
A great British classic

Serves4

Preparation30 Mins

Cooking Time30 Mins

The fish pie is a British classic, but I cannot help adding a little improvement from a Frenchman! Often, the fish ends up completely overcooked, lacking its identity, texture and flavour, so in this recipe, I cool the sauce and then add the fish to the cold sauce before baking in a hot oven. This ensures that the fish is not over-cooked. This versatile recipe can be made with whatever fish you prefer. You can be creative with flavouring it and adding your favourite herbs. You can make and chill the sauce ahead of time or assemble the pie, minus the topping, and freeze.

Ingredients Required

For the sauce:

100g: Butter, unsalted

2: Shallots, small peeled and sliced

80g: Fennel, 1cm dice

80g: Leeks, cut in half lengthways, washed and cut into 1cm slices

10: Mushrooms button, washed and sliced

40g: Flour, plain

320ml: Milk, whole, organic

160ml: Cream, whipping

1 handful: Parsley, roughly chopped

½: Lemon, juiced

: Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the fish:

600g: Pollock, 2cm dice (Or any mixture of fish you like)

For the topping

1kg: Potatoes, Desirée, peeled, cut 5cm, steamed until soft for 25-30minutes

100ml: Milk, whole, organic, warmed

100g: Butter, unsalted, melted

4 pinches: Salt

4 turns: Pepper, white, freshly ground

Cooking Method

Step 1

For the sauce:

Steam the potatoes for the topping while you prepare the sauce.

In a large sauté pan, soften the shallots, fennel and leeks in the butter for 5 minutes with no colour.

Add the sliced mushrooms and sweat for a further 2 minutes. Stir in the flour, and cook for 1 minute before gradually stirring in the milk.

Simmer for 5 minutes, season and allow to cool, then finish with cream, chopped parsley and lemon juice. Taste and adjust the seasoning if required.

Place the fish into the bowl and pour over the sauce. Reserve in the fridge while you make the topping.

Step 2

Preparing the topping and baking:

Preheat your oven to 190ºC.

Strain the cooked potatoes into a colander, letting the excess steam escape for 2 – 3 minutes.

Pass the potato through a potato ricer or mash with a potato masher. Return the purée of potato into a saucepan, gradually pour and mix in the warm milk (retain a little).

Stir in the melted butter and season with salt and pepper. Taste and correct the seasoning if necessary. If the purée is too firm, thin it down with the remaining milk.

Allow to cool slightly before spooning into a piping bag and piping over the top of your fish pie.

Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes.

Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Chef tips

"Be careful to wash the leeks sufficiently so as to remove any grit that they may hold."

"Do not boil the potatoes rapidly, or they will disintegrate and absorb water."

"You can either reserve the fish pie in the fridge where it will keep until the next day for you to bake or cling film well and place into the freezer until required."

"Use whatever fish you prefer, such as salmon or prawns, or use your choice of herbs to finish the sauce."

Replace the vegetables in the pie with any seasonal vegetables you prefer, such as peas, courgettes, carrots, celery etc.…

For an alternative topping, you could add horseradish to the mashed potatoes or replace the potato topping with puff pastry cut into lids. If using puff pastry, brush the lid with egg yolk, and bake at 190ºC for 25 minutes, and allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving.

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Ingredients Required

For the sauce:

For the fish:

For the topping

Cooking Method

Step 1

Step 2

Chef tips

Voila!

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