Winter Seafood Fish Pie

Posted by Alex Hardie on Jan 3, 2012 in Food | 0 comments

So last night we made one of our absolute all time favourites: the most awesome seafood winter fish pie. Now look, I know that fish pies can sometimes sound a bit bland and boring. And you’d be right, most of the time. I’ve had some real shockers (tasteless, texture-less, uninspiring). But if you take the time to think about flavour and really get it right, this one’s a winner for all the family.

Seafood Fish Pie (Serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 6-8 x large red potatoes, peeled and quartered
• 1 x large red onion, finely diced
• Half a large packet of baby spinach
• 2 x salmon fillet
• 1 x cod fillet
• 1 x smoked haddock fillet
• 1 x medium pot of double cream
• 50ml whole milk
• 16-20 large king prawns (4-5 for everyone!)
• 2/3 of a block of parmesan, the little triangular ones in the chilled cabinet (finely grated)
• 2 x large carrots, peeled and diced
• 2 x celery sticks, finely diced
• 1 x large clove of garlic, crushed
• ½ a cabbage
• Olive oil
• Large knob of butter
• Salt and cracked black pepper

A few words on ingredients: Don’t scrimp on the parmesan and don’t substitute it with a cheddar either, no matter how mature. I promise you you’ll regret it if you do. Second, get the best fish you can afford and have a mixture of cod, salmon and prawns – not just one type of fish. You can usually buy these now in ready prepared fish pie packs.

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200oC (Gas Mark 6)
2. Peel your carrots and potatoes and put them on to boil in two separate pans (steam the carrots if you prefer) for about 20-25 minutes or until you can stick a knife through them
3. Soften the onion and celery in a little olive oil with all the butter, for about 10 minutes. You don’t want them to colour. Then add the garlic
4. Put all the spinach on to steam. After a few minutes remove it from the steamer and place it on some kitchen role or a tea towel and leave it for a few minutes to cool. Now squeeze all the liquid out of the spinach in your hand (you’ll know your there when the spinach is about the size of a small tennis ball)
5. Finely dice the spinach and it to the onion and celery mixture. The carrots should now be soft, add them to the pan as well
6. Throw all the fish in the pan, season with the salt and pepper and turn the heat off
7. Immediately move all the mixture into a deep dish or casserole pot
8. Mix the parmesan, milk and cream then pour on the fish mixture
9. Remove the potatoes from the pan and drain, checking they’re soft. Mash the potatoes with a little butter and olive oil and add to a piping bag. Pipe the mash in small swirls on to the top of the pie
10. Bake for 20-25 minutes and serve with a nice Chablis and steamed cabbage

Let me know how you get on!

Photography by: Simon Aughton