Fish Pie Recipe

So here’s the story.  I was joking around with this rather “large” guy at work the other week about his fondness of pies (I’ve never seen him eating one.  It’s a light-hearted joke about his weight) and saying how I should blog a pie recipe just for him.  The same weekend I saw the “Two Fat Ladies” on a TV re-run cooking a fish pie (didn’t write down the recipe but got the idea) and immediately made the connection.  I’m a nice guy like that.

This pie recipe fits nicely with the theme of this months seasonal food blogging challenge “In The Bag“, where the ingredients are eggs, leeks, and cheese – all of which make an appearance here.  I’ve opted for plain haddock in the recipe instead of smoked (which I’d have preffered) due to my wife’s pregnancy; apparently smoked food is a no-no, which is unfortunate for a lady from a country where smoked sausage is pretty much a staple food.  Feel free to use some smoked fish if you prefer, though.

I’ll apologise in advance for my non-precise measurements below.  I didn’t measure as I cooked and to be honest neither should you; just go with what looks right (this isn’t baking; you can’t really mess it up).  I don’t know the size of the dish you’re going to use so can’t really tell you how much potatoes you’ll need to cover it.

Fish Pie Recipe – Ingredients

4 Haddock Fillets (smoked if preferred, or a mixture of the two)
3 Carrots, finely diced
3 Hard Boiled Eggs, quartered.
1 Stick Celery, finely sliced
1 Leek, finely sliced
Floury Potatoes such as Maris Piper, peeled and chopped.
25g Butter
25g Plain Flour
Milk
Mature Cheddar Cheese
Salt & pepper, to taste
Nutmeg, to taste

Here goes one of the easiest recipes you’ve ever done.  Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees c to start off.

First off put the fish fillets, diced carrot, celery and leek into a frying pan.  Pour over enough milk to cover, bring to a simmer and leave it for 10 minutes.  At the same time boil your peeled potatoes until soft.
Sieve the cooked stuff which will leave you with a) a jug of fishy milk and b) some fish and vegetables.  Put the fish and veg into your baking dish and leave the milk in a jug for now.
Mash your potato.  There’s nothing complicated about this; add salt and pepper, a nob of butter and a slosh of the fishy milk.  You’re looking for a mash that isn’t over-worked; it doesn’t want to sink into the fish while cooking or you’ll just end up with a mess.
Fish now hopefully cooled, pick apart into flakes with your fingers, removing any bones you come across at the same time.  Remove the skin, too.
Now for the sauce.  Butter and flour into a small pot over a medium heat, stir until melted and combined (a thick and gloopy mixture).  Now pour in your milk about 100ml at a time, always stirring and allowing to thicken before adding more.  Stop when the required thickness (like syrup) is reached; this will be about 500ml of milk.  Season well with salt, pepper and grated nutmeg.
Pour your sauce into your fish mixture and stir well; at this stage add your quartered eggs randomly through the mix (I add them now to stop them breaking up with any stirring or such-like).  Slowly heap the mashed potato on to the top, making sure not to leave any gaps especially near the edges; smoothing the surface with the back of a spoon seems to help prevent any leakages.  Cover liberally with grated cheddar cheese.
Into the oven for about 30 minutes until golden on top, then serve and enjoy!




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