I actually worry that the title undersells how good this fish pie recipe is! For context, fish pie is one of my favourite dishes. I have undertaken a lengthy quest trying different recipes to compare and contrast. Including trying the hybrids of other folks who have also compared and contrasted, so I like to think this is pretty good. In fact, I’ll say it again – it’s the best fish pie recipe!
The Best Fish Pie Recipe
How To Make The Best Fish Pie
Ingredients
- 1 kg 'floury' potatoes eg. that are good for mash, like King Eds, Maris Piper
- 50 g salted butter
- 3 tbsp milk a splash of milk basically
- 1 tsp nigella seeds (if you have them)
- 100 ml white wine
- 350 g white fish I often use cod and salmon (ensure it's not farmed!) but a fishmonger's recommendation for sustainable 'meaty' alternatives are good here
- 350 g smoked fish Haddock is good
- 200 g peeled prawns Avoid
South East Asian and Chinese prawns! - 50 g salted butter In addition to the above – just helps me to separate
- 2 cloves large garlic Crushed
- 50 g plain flour
- 500 ml fish stock
- 1 handful fresh parsley
- 0.5 tsp fennel
- 1 tsp mustard seeds (black or yellow)
- 200 ml double cream
- 1 handful breadcrumbs (or pangrattato) Just finely blend or chop up some old bread
- 1 juice of lemon
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180°C
The Mash
- Peel your potatoes and cut into roughly even sized chunks. Pop them into a colander, lightly salt them and leave them for 5 – 10 minutes.
- Add to a pan of boiling water with plenty of salt, and bring the whole thing to the boil. Now turn them down to keep them simmering away for about 20 minutes, stabbing them every so often with a fork to feel them getting tender.
- Drain them in a colander. Put them back in the pan you just cooked them in, add 50g of the butter, the nigella seeds and the splash of milk, and mash it all smooth.
Prep the Fish
- Put the fish stock and wine into a wide-bottomed pan, and bring to a simmer. Add the fish and simmer for 5 minutes if fresh, or 10 if frozen.
- Lift out the fish with a spatula, and keep the liquid because this is your fish stock! Very important! If the fish has skin, let it cool enough that you can pull that off (and if it doesn't come away easily, simmer for a bit longer). Break the fish into large chunks.
The Sauce
- Melt the remaining 50g of butter in a large, wide-bottomed pan, over a low heat. Once melted, add the crushed garlic cloves and fry gently for a couple of minutes. Next stir in the flour, and keep stirring the whole time. Also keep that heat on low until they're well mixed (a few minutes is fine)
- Gradually stir in all of the stock and bring it to the boil. Let this simmer for 20 minutes, stirring regularly.
- Take the sauce pan off the heat, and stir in the double cream, your chopped up parsley leaves, fennel, mustard seeds and the lemon juice. Mix well.
Bringing it All Together!
- Add your fish and prawns to the sauce, and gently push them all around until everything is well coated in the sauce.
- Pour or spoon your fish and sauce mix into a large over-proof baking dish, and spoon the mashed potato on top of it. To fill any holes, use the back of a fork to flatten and smush it all around.
Baking
- Bake for 20 minutes, then sprinkle over your breadcrumbs (or pangrattato if you're feeling cheeky!) Then put it back in the oven for a further 15 minutes. It's likely to boil over the edges of your pan, so it's worth having an easy clean baking tray underneath.
