Fish
Fish pie with spinach
This creamy, soothing fish pie suits all occasions from weeknights to festive dinners. It only needs a crisp green salad or bowl of buttery peas to go with it. It freezes well, or can be made ahead and kept in the fridge. Vary the filling, depending on what fish you can find, but it's good to include a couple of different kinds for a bit of contrast.
Ingredients
- 250g whole piece salmon
- 250g whole piece white fish
- 700ml milk
- ½ onion, cut into rings
- a few black peppercorns (6-8)
- 1 bay leaf
- a few fresh parsley stalks
- 250g prawns
- 3 hard boiled eggs, peeled and roughly chopped
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
- 50g butter
- 50g plain flour
- juice of ½ lemon
- 250g bag of spinach, washed, stalks removed and discarded
- 4 tbsp double cream
- a little grated nutmeg
- 1 kg potatoes, peeled and diced
- knob of butter and splash of milk for mashed potato
- salt and pepper
Method
-
Step 1
Preheat oven to 200°C/Gas 6.
-
Step 2
Place the salmon and white fish in a large pan (a large frying pan will be fine) and pour over the milk. Add the onion rings, peppercorns, bay leaf and parsley stalks. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes.
-
Step 3
Strain the fish, reserving the cooking liquor. Leave to cool slightly, then pick out the onion, herbs and spices, and discard. Flake the fish into a large bowl. Add the prawns, eggs and chopped parsley. Stir gently to combine.
-
Step 4
Make a white sauce: melt a knob of butter in a saucepan, add the flour and cook gently for 2 minutes. Add the reserved milk from cooking the fish, a squeeze of lemon juice and whisk to combine. Heat until thickened, then leave to cool. Pour over the fish and gently stir to combine.
-
Step 5
Steam or blanch the spinach in a pan of boiling water for 3 minutes, until wilted. Drain and plunge into a bowl of cold water, then drain again. Squeeze into a ball and gently squeeze out as much water as you can, then finely chop. Place the spinach in the bottom of a baking dish. Pour over the cream and grate over a little fresh nutmeg before pouring over the fish mixture.
-
Step 6
To make the mash, boil a pan of salted water, add the potato and cook until just soft, about 8 minutes. Drain and return to the pan. Add a knob of butter and a splash of milk, season well with salt and white pepper and mash until smooth. Spread over the fish mixture then use a fork to rough the top up a little.
-
Step 7
Dot some butter oven, then bake for about 20-30 minutes, until the top is starting to go brown and crispy.