Ultimate Fish Pie
Lots of stages to this dish, but worth every one.
Even though the stages may be many, the stages aren’t difficult.
I don’t know about you, but I like my pies to be filled to the brim, sweet or savoury, I want to be able to have a forkful of everything when I eat it.
And this pie fits the bill.
Of course, you can miss out the mussels and the prawns and just add more fish. You can even not add the tender stem broccoli, add more peas instead.
Substitute the sweet potato and swede with potato, but if you want the ultimate fish pie, I’d stick with the ingredients and enjoy each mouthful.
It’s a big recipe, enough for 4 very generous portions, 6 smaller portions and realistically even more.
Let me know if you enjoy making it as much as I always enjoy eating it.
Go on, give it a go and enjoy your sweet life!
Burnt around the edges, piping hot in the middle and each mouthful full of fish or shell fish.
What You Need
1kg Sweet Potato – approx. 4 medium.
600ml Double Cream
500ml Milk – See Tip Box
300g Frozen Peas
300g White Fish, skinless - See Tip Box
300g Smoked Fish , Skinless
250g Mussel Meat – Fresh or frozen - See Tip Box
200g Raw King Prawns - Fresh or frozen - See Tip Box
200g Tender stem Broccoli – See Tip Box
100g Flour – See Tip Box
200g Butter
30g Parsley – Roughly Chopped
6 Large Eggs - Hardboiled
6 tbsp Plain Flour
1 Small Swede
3 tbsp Whole Grain Mustard – See Tip Box
3 Small Leeks
1 Large Lemon – Rind only
1 Bay Leaf
Maldon Sea Salt – To Taste - See Tip Box
Fresh Ground Black Pepper - To Taste
How It’s Done
Heat the oven to 200c
Hard boil the six eggs. Once cooked, let them go completely cold sitting in cold water.
Once cold, peel and slice into quarters.
Set them aside until needed.
Start the pie by preparing the vegetables.
Cut off the woody outer part of the leeks and peel away the outer leaves, discard these bits.
Use a sharp knife to slice the leek lengthways through the leek. Turn it over and do this again so the leek is cut in four strips, keeping the root attached.
Wash the leek really well under cold running water making sure that the dirt, which inevitably finds its way under the leaves, is washed away.
Give them a good shake to get rid of any excess water.
Slice the leek into pieces about the width of a little finger, stopping when you reach the root.
Set it aside until needed.
Prep the tender stem broccoli by chopping off the bottom of the stem and discarding it.
Hold it under cold running water to wash out any dirt caught in it. Give it a good shake to get rid of any excess water.
Chop the broccoli into bits about ½ inch in length and set aside until needed. Any really thick bits of stem, slice in half lengthways to enable it to cook once in the pie.
Roughly chop the parsley and set aside until needed
Prepare the sweet potatoes and the swede.
Wash the skin of the sweet potatoes, give them a wipe dry and prick all over.
Put them on a microwavable plate and microwave on high until they are all cooked all the way through.- This will tale some time ad they will need to be turned over a few times during cooking to ensure an even cooking.
Set them aside until cool enough to handle.
Peel the swede, and chop the inside flesh into small cubes.
Place the cubes into a microwavable bowl, add a couple of tablespoons of water and cover with cling film.
Cook in the microwave until it is very soft, shaking the bowl a few times during cooking.
Drain the swede and make sure the swede is in a large bowl.
Cut the sweet potato on half, and scoop out the flesh. Put the flesh into the bowl with the swede, and mash until there are no lumps
Once as smooth as you can get them, add 100g of the butter and mix and mash it in until it’s all melted and mixed in.
Set it aside until needed
Mash the sweet potato and swede together along with the butter.
Chop the smoked fish and white fish into chunks and put them into a saucepan with the milk and the bay leaf.
Bring the milk to a gentle boil and once boiling, turn off the heat and let the fish sit in the boiling milk while you cook the leeks.
Take the boiling milk and fish off the heat
Add 100g of butter to a large pan, and let it melt.
Add the prepared leeks to the melted butter, and on a low to medium heat, cook the leeks until they are soft.
Add the flour to the leeks, give it a good stir so that the butter is absorbed ,and stir.
Let the flour and leeks cook for around 3 minutes, on a low to medium heat, stirring occasionally so the mixture doesn’t catch on the bottom of the pan.
Use a slotted spoon to drain the fish onto a plate, keeping the milk and discarding the bay leaf.
Pour the hot milk from the fish into the leek and flour mixture, and using a whisk, mix really well until smooth.
Add the double cream, the mustard and mix really well until the sauce is smooth and thick.
Add all the pieces of fish, mussels, prawns, pieces of broccoli, peas and chopped parsley into the sauce.
Very gently, mix it all together.
Give it a taste and season with salt and pepper until it tastes good to you
Pour the fish filling into a large oven proof dish and smooth the top
Lay the quarters of the eggs over the top pf the pie filling.
Lay the quartered eggs over the top pf the fish filling
Spoon the sweet potato topping over the top of the filling and smooth it right to the end of the dish.
Use the back of a fork to make a pattern – optional.
Place the dish onto an heat proof oven tray and place it into the hot oven to cook until the edges are a dark colour and the very centre of the pie is piping hot when a knife is inserted.
Make sure the topping goes all the way to the edge
Once piping hot all the way through, remove it from the oven and let it sit for 10 minutes before eating, just so it doesn’t burn the roof of your mouth.
Enjoy hot or at room temperature.
Store in the fridge.
Tons of filling
Tip Box
White Fish - Use an inexpensive sturdy white fish for this. If using frozen fish let it thaw fully before using.
Prawns and mussel meat - I use frozen, and i don’t defrost before hand. Placing them straight into the pie filling when ready to mix together. As long as the pie is piping hot in the centre before eating, the prawns and mussels will be cooked with out being tough to eat.
Milk – I used semi skimmed milk, but use whatever you normally use.
Mustard – If no whole grain mustard, use Dijon. Both of these are perfect for this dish.
Butter – I always use salted butter for my cooking and baking, but if you only have unsalted, adjust the seasoning as you go along accordingly.
To Taste – This means adjust the seasoning so that it suits how you like it, not how I want it to taste.
Tender stem broccoli – If you can’t get your hands on tender stem broccoli, use ordinary broccoli. If you use this, chop it up into small pieces that are easy to cook. Include the stem of the broccoli, but make sure it is in small pieces
A bowl full of delicious
