Fish Pie

Selection of Fish

Poaching and White Sauce Ingredients

Fish pie is one of those comfort foods that go down well on a cold Winter’s night.  Although there are three separate steps which mean that it takes a little time to rustle up, each stage can be done separately in advance so that it is less of a cooking mission or you can put the whole thing together in advance.  For this reason, it has broad appeal if you are feeding a crowd and it appeals to young and old alike.

I usually put spinach in the pie and often add peas and corn to make it a complete meal.

Fish Selection

There is no hard and fast rule about what to put in a fish pie except that firmer fish (such as cod, salmon, monkfish, and shellfish) will retain their shape and “bite” and won’t disintegrate once they are cooked.  It really comes down to personal preference and what is available.  Some people love smoked fish in the fish pie and others prefer it without.  If you are using smoked fish, it’s best to use undyed smoked fish such as haddock.

In this recipe I have used a mixture of cod, salmon and prawns as this is usually what I make.

Method

There are four stages to making fish pie (1) poaching the fish (2) making the white sauce (3) making the mashed potato (4) assembly and cooking.

If you are doing all four stages in one go, then preheat the oven to 190 degrees C while you go through the steps.

(1) To poach the fish

Put the fish fillets (leave out the prawns to begin with as they cook very quickly), peppercorns, parsley and bay leaf into a large heavy based saucepan. (You can tie the herbs together with some cooking string to make it easier to lift them out at the end butI don’t bother). Cover the fish with the milk.

Bring everything up to a gentle simmer and simmer for 3 minutes.  Add the prawns and continue simmering for another 2 minutes.  The fish should be cooked, opaque and flake easily and the prawns should be pink rather than grey.

Keeping the poaching liquid, strain the fish.  The poaching liquid will be the base of the white sauce.  Throw away the herbs and the peppercorns (make sure you retrieve the same number that went in!), flake the fish into the bottom of your casserole dish (I use a 21cm x 27cm rectangular dish) and scatter over the prawns.

Fish Flaked in Casserole Dish

(2) White Sauce

In a medium sized saucepan, melt the butter and when melted, whisk in the flour.  Cook the flour/butter mixture over a low heat for 2 minutes.  Then whisk in the milk.  Continue cooking over a low heat for about 5 minutes until you have a sauce the consistency of pouring custard.  Mix in the chopped dill if you are using it and season with salt and pepper.

Spinach

Wash the spinach and put the damp leaves into a large pot.  Cook it over a low heat for a minute or two with the lid on until the spinach is wilted.  Let the spinach cool a little then squeeze out excess water.  It should look like the picture below.

(3) Mashed Potato

Peel and chop the potatoes into chunks (about the size of a plum) and put them into a large pan of cold salted water.  Bring them up to the boil and boil for approximately 10-15 minutes (depending on how large your chunks are).  The potatoes are cooked when the point of a knife inserts easily into them.  Drain the water off and return the potatoes to the hot pan.  Add the butter and milk and mash until you have a smooth consistency.  Then stir in the egg yolk and any other flavourings if you want (e.g. pesto or herbs).  The egg yolk will make the mash topping golden when it’s cooked in the oven.

(4) Assembly

Pour the white sauce over the fish and give it a little mix to combine.  Then dot the wilted spinach evenly over the fish and sauce mixture.

Now spread the mashed potato mixture over the top.  Using a fork, fluff up the mashed potato so the pie will have some crispy potato peaks when it is cooked.  Sprinkle over the grated cheese and put the dish in the oven for 25 minutes (or until the top is golden brown and the mixture bubbling).