Online Recipe Book

Fish Pie

Source
Delia Smith's Complete Cookery Course, Classic Edition, c2001, page 110
Yield
2 - 3 servings
Prep info
5 min prep + 20 min bake & prep + 15 min cook + 40 min bake
Prep time
25 minutes
Cook time
1 hour, 20 minutes
Time required
1 hour, 45 minutes
Oven preheat
400F
Type
Mains - Seafood
Status
Favourite
Tags
English

Ingredients

  • Topping:
  • 1 lb potatoes (to mash)
  • 15 g shredded cheese
  • Fish:
  • 300 g fish (preferably haddock, smoked haddock, and salmon mix)
  • Salt (Sea) (as needed)
  • freshly ground black pepper (as needed)
  • 150 mL milk
  • 13 g margarine (plus some for buttering the dish)
  • Sauce:
  • 2 t rapeseed oil
  • 10 g Flour (Plain) (dry roux flour)
  • 150 mL milk
  • Salt (Sea) (to taste)
  • freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
  • 1/2 t grated nutmeg
  • Rest of mix:
  • 55 g peeled shrimp (or prawns)
  • 1 egg (hard-boiled)
  • 1.5 T finely chopped parsley (fresh)
  • 1 T fresh lemon juice

Method

For the topping:

1. Prepare and wash the potatoes, and start them boiling. This will usually take 30+ minutes in total.

2. If you do not already have hard-boiled eggs, start them now.

For the fish:

3. Start by arranging the fish in a baking tin and seasoning it well with salt and pepper.  Then pour over 150ml of milk, dot with 13g margarine in flecks, and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes. 

4. Pour off (and keep) the cooking liquid, and remove the skin and any bones from the fish, flaking the flesh into fairly large pieces.

5. Butter the inside of an 8 inch baking dish; set aside.

6. De-vein and cut the shrimp, and chop the hard-boiled egg.

For the sauce:

7. Heat 2 tsp oil in a saucepan, then stir in the flour and gradually add the fish cooking liquid - stirring well after each addition.  When all the liquid is in, finish off the sauce by slowly adding 150ml milk and seasoning with salt, pepper, and nutmeg.

8. Mix the flaked fish into the sauce, along with the shrimp, hard-boiled egg, and parsley.

9. Stir in the lemon juice. 

10. Now pour the sauce mixture into the prepared baking dish.

For the topping:

11. Finish preparing the mashed potatoes then spread the mixture evenly all over the sauce mixture.  Smooth the surface of the mashed potato, then pattern it by making impressions 1/2" deep in rows. 

12. Sprinkle the cheese over the top of the mashed potato.

13. Bake the pie for about 30-40 minutes, or until heated through and browned.

Notes

SJ Note 17 May 2011: Tasty!  A keeper.  Made it in a 2" deep, 8" pie dish, worked well.  Added about 1/2t nutmeg to the filling.

History