Family fish pie

Serves 6 generously

Prep time: 30-40 minutes

Cooking time: 25-30 minutes

You don’t have to make a white sauce for this scrumptious creamy fish pie recipe or poach the chunks of fish first as they cook in the very hot oven. The fennel adds a slightly piquant taste but don’t worry if you can’t find it, just increase the quantity of carrots and leeks a little.

It’s a very kind recipe and although it’s best served fresh from the oven, you can easily reheat any leftovers in the microwave. You can also make individual ones in foil containers or little oven-proof dishes, which will take about 15-20 minutes to cook.

Ingredients

125g salted butter, diced

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 small bulb of fennel, trimmed and thinly sliced

1 medium leek, trimmed, white/pale green parts only, thinly sliced 

2 medium carrots, diced

2 heaped tsp wholegrain or Dijon mustard or 1 tsp English mustard

250ml double cream

125g strong cheese, grated (taste the mix and add a bit more cheese if you wish)

juice of 1 lemon

2 tbsp finely chopped parsley 

salt and freshly ground black pepper

450g-500g mix of skinless fish fillets, cut into 2.5cm cubes; choose a mix from salmon, cod, whiting, hake, haddock, smoked haddock/cod, a handful of shelled prawns, etc 

Topping

600g potatoes, eg, Maris Piper or King Edward, peeled and cut into chunks; use more if you like a thick layer of mash

90g salted butter

100ml milk

salt and pepper

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7 if you want to cook the pie straight away.

2. For the topping, bring the potatoes to the boil in a pan of salted water and cook until soft, about 10-15 minutes; drain and let them steam dry in the colander for 10 minutes. Mash with the butter and milk, and season well.

3. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large saucepan. When it’s foaming, add the chopped onions and cook on a low to medium heat for 5-7 minutes, until soft and translucent. Don’t let them colour.

4. Now add the fennel, leek and carrots and cook for a further 5 minutes, stirring from time to time. Check the carrots are cooked; if necessary cook for a couple more minutes.

5. Add the mustard and double cream and bring to the boil. Take off the heat, stir in the cheese, lemon juice and parsley, and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

6. Mix in the fish then transfer to your baking dish. (If you have a defrosted frozen fish mix, do make sure to drain off all the liquid before stirring it into the sauce or it will make it watery. We leave it in a sieve/colander to drain.) You can leave the dish at this stage to cool and refrigerate if you don’t want to cook the pie immediately.

7. Top the mix with the mashed potato, spreading with the back of a spoon or fork then roughing it up so it browns nicely. (You can also cool and refrigerate it at this point.)

8. To cook, bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until bubbling and golden on top and piping hot right through. 

9. Serve immediately on hot plates – or it will sit happily for 5-10 minutes.