This is a great dish for the family, especially if you are one of those people who are not particularly enamoured with fish, yet still wish to get nutrients into your body. With the weather still being particularly cold in the UK, it is also nice to eat something warming and tasty, yet not cost the earth.
Fish Pie Recipe Ingredients
• Enough mashed potato to cover the top of your pie dish
• Pinch of black peppercorn
• 1 medium onion roughly chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 550ml of semi skimmed milk
• 1 carrot roughly chopped
• 500g of cod or haddock
• Handful of prawns
• 110g of salmon fillet and/or smoked haddock
• A generous handful of frozen peas or sweetcorn
• 170ml of double cream
• 60g of butter
• 60g of flour
• Salt & Pepper
• Optional – handful of grated cheese
Fish Pie Recipe Method
Place the peppercorns, onion, bay leaf, carrot and milk in a large saucepan and gradually bring it to the boil. Allow the milk to cool for 20 minutes or so. This will allow the flavours to infuse into the milk, then strain off those ingredients, so that you are left with just the milk. Then place this milk into something like a large frying pan, and add the fish pieces in. Simmer for four minutes and then allow the fish to cool in the milk, for around 15 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 180 degrees centigrade. Gently remove the fish from the milk and keep to one side.
In a measuring jug place the double cream, then add enough milk to make it up to around 500ml.
Make a roux by melting the butter with the flour and cook it gently, until it starts to foam. Be careful to not let it overcook! Add the milk/cream mixture a little at the time, and whisk until the mixture is lump free. This could take a few minutes but you should be left with a lovely creamy sauce. You can add a little salt and some pepper here. I caution you to be careful with the salt, if you are using smoked fish, as you do not want the dish to be over salty in taste.
Place an ovenproof dish on a baking tray. You need a baking tray, as occasionally sauce bubbles over the top and the last thing you want is a mess in your oven. Place the fish in the dish, along with prawns and peas/sweetcorn. Pour over the sauce and then cover with mashed potato. A tip here, is to dot the mashed potato over the top and then smooth it together. If you lump it all on top, your mixture underneath will go everywhere. I like to make a fish scale pattern on the potato topping, but you can do your own style on top.
Cook in the oven for 30 minutes. If you wish to add the optional cheese on top, pre-heat your grill, then sprinkle the cheese on the top of the potato and grill until golden brown.
Serve with some nice greens like broccoli.