Recipe: Eating on a Dime Fish Pie

Joe McGee

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Recipe: Eating on a Dime Fish Pie Delicious, fresh and tasty.

Fish Pie. This is the easiest fish pie I have ever made. I used cod and haddock for the white fish and a few extra shrimp as there were some left in the bag. It instructions are simple, the sauce with its dash of mustard and lemon had a nice slight "tang".

A rendering of the classic British fish pie.

This is a very tasty fish pie without the 'tweaks' of some newer versions; it was traditionally a relatively simple dish.

Cut up the potatoes, and boil in lightly salted water until tender; drain, add the butter, sour cream and milk, mash until smooth, seasoning with salt and pepper.

You can cook Fish Pie using 9 ingredients and 12 steps. Here is how you achieve it.

Ingredients of Fish Pie

Prepare 600-700 g of mixed fish. I usually use 200g salmon fillet, 200g smoked haddock and 300g cod loin. (Give or take!) Alternatively, just buy a couple of packets of mixed fish at the supermarket.
It’s 150 g of king prawns.
Prepare 1 carton of cheese sauce (ideally c.350g but carton volumes vary).
You need 2 of eggs.
It’s 650 g of potatoes. More potatoes can be used if the casserole is big enough and if a deeper topping is wanted.
It’s of Butter and milk (for mashing).
It’s A few of capers (optional).
You need of Sea salt and pepper.
It’s 2-4 of cherry or similar tomatoes (optional garnish), sliced.

Combining fish, leeks, milk, butter, and potatoes, a fish pie is a one-pot supper dish.

Some like to sprinkle a fish pie with grated cheese but that's optional, as is the addition of hard-cooked eggs seen in some recipes.

Serve fish pie with peas or other fresh greens. "This delicious fish pie is a great excuse to pack in the veg, so use whatever you have to hand - even frozen peas!

Instead of plain old mash, I've created a crispy root veg topping to add colour and texture - it's a bit like a rosti, only baked instead of fried.

Fish Pie instructions

Hard-boil the eggs, cool and peel. Cut each egg in half, lengthways..
Simultaneously poach the fish in a large, shallow pan. I usually just bring to the boil and after 1 minute turn off the heat and leave on our electric hob to cool for 5 minutes. A gas hob might require a bit longer simmering..
Drain the fish and lay into a casserole dish, removing any skins and bones as you do so. Try to mix the varieties up a bit so that each portion will have some of everything..
Wipe the prawns on some kitchen paper and add to the casserole, plus the optional capers if desired..
Add the cheese sauce and gently but thoroughly mix..
Gently push the halved, hard-boiled eggs yolk-down into the mixture, spaced so that each portion contains a half-egg..
Boil the potatoes and mash them with a generous amount of butter and a little milk. The mash needs to be firmish, definitely not sloppy, but capable of spreading..
Using a dessert spoon or similar, gently top the casserole mixture with the mashed potato and spread the mash out with the back of the spoon to ensure a thorough and even coverage..
Draw the tines of a dinner fork “backwards” to create a light ridging effect. This step will help to get some crispy highlights in the end-product but can be omitted..
Add the garnish of sliced tomatoes if wished. Indeed, add any garnish that you’d like!.
Place the casserole on the middle shelf of the oven and cook for 30-40 minutes at Gas Mark 5 or the equivalent on an electric oven - my Neff Circotherm setting is 160C..
Serve piping hot with vegetables of your choice. Frozen peas are a quick and easy choice. I like broccoli and carrots with this dish..

One of the givens of most fish pies is the mashed potato crust, making it the fishy equivalent of a cottage pie, or shepherd's pie.

It can be thick, thin, swirled, piped, or flattened, but it's always lightly crisped in the hot oven, and utterly delicious.

Scatter with the grated cheese and put the pie immediately in the oven.

Add ½ tablespoon butter to a skillet and heat over low heat.

Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until the the onion is soft and translucent but not browned.