Quick and easy

“A traditional British dish. The pie is usually made with white, often smoked, fish (for example cod, haddock or halibut) in a white sauce or cheddar cheese sauce made using the milk the fish was poached in. Prawns and hard boiled eggs are other common additional ingredients. In place of a pastry casing enclosing the pie, a topping of mashed potatoes (sometimes with cheese or vegetables such as onions and leeks added) is used to enclose the contents during baking. The dish is sometimes referred to as “fisherman’s pie” because the topping is similar to that of shepherd’s pie, in that it uses mashed potatoes.”

This blog post is for the #oceanhero competition that The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) has launched with Loaf. This week, I’ve made a MSC certified traditional British fish pie that also goes well for Good Friday and Easter Sunday. For more information on this wonderful project visit there website.

You will need:

Mashed potato:
900g-1kg big Maris Piper potatoes
200g unsalted butter
100ml double cream

Sauce:
75g unsalted butter
75g plain flour
500ml milk
1/2 to a teaspoon of dijon mustard (optional)
Salt and pepper
200g peas
4 sprigs of dill
4 sprigs of parsley
Grated mature cheddar cheese

Pie filling:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 garlic clove
325g MSC Certified haddock fillet, skinless and boneless
250g MSC Certified cod fillets, boneless and skinless
360g MSC Certified salmon fillets

*You can also substitute the fish filling with prawns and monkfish.

Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees, make a cross incision with your knife on the potatoes before oven baking it till golden and tender. With the butter and flour, make a roux, then gently whisk in the milk till the sauce becomes thick and creamy, bring to boil then simmer for 2minutes before setting it aside. In a separate pan, on medium to high heat, drizzle some oil and start frying the chopped garlic before mixing in the roughly cut fish pieces. Pour over the creamy sauce over the fish and mix well. Season the pie filling with salt, pepper and dijon mustard. You don’t want to over cook the fish, so lower the heat to medium to low heat. Lastly mix in the peas and finely chopped dill and parsley. Check it’s seasoning for a last time and transfer the filling into a baking dish. For the mashed potatoes, peel off the skin and mash it with a fork or tamis sieve, to make the potato silky smooth, mix in some melted butter and double cream before transferring it into a piping bag. Spread the mashed potatoe however you like it on top of the pie filling. Before putting it in the oven, grate some mature cheddar cheese.  Bake for 35–40 minutes until crisp and golden on top.