It’s no secret that we love pies in my family! Some of our favourites are Quorn Pie (recipe to be shared soon), Chicken Pie, Shepherd’s Pie, Salmon & Pea Pie, Fisherman’s Pie, I mean I could go on forever but you get the point, right? It really is a perfect meal, all you need are a couple of simple sides and dinner is sorted. Growing up our school meals were halal and some of my fondest memories of school dinners were of the pies we used to enjoy. The fillings were always delicious, the pastry so flaky and crumbly. It’s no wonder I have instilled my love for pies in my children and I’m happy to say my children ALWAYS look forward to mealtimes when they know pie is on the menu; whilst they enjoy meat and chicken in their pies it’s equally good to know they look forward to fish and that I can prepare this Fisherman’s Pie for dinner and they devour it every time (even my fussy daughter enjoys it).

You can use any type of white boneless fish you have in the house, even fish like Tilapia and Pangash/Pangasius (I use both of these a lot). Alaskan pollock is available widely and is cheap but if you want a more flavoursome pie use something like cod or haddock. This is a basic recipe and you can always chop and change it and add other things to the mix; if you love prawns, throw in a handful for a different flavour or how about using sweet potatoes for the mash on top instead of normal white ones? We adore eggs and a good Fisherman’s Pie always includes boiled eggs as part of the filling, if however you don’t like them leave them out or simply replace with sweetcorn/peas. If you wanted to be really adventurous you could probably use a mixed selection of fish to add colour and flavour ie. salmon, haddock, coley etc. it’s entirely up to you. Whilst I love shortcrust pastry and making it from scratch, the one thing I love about THIS pie is the fact that there is no pastry and no rolling pins involved, it’s so EASY anyone can follow this recipe and make a good fish pie. So go on, impress your family with this easy but ever so tasty Fisherman’s Pie!

Serves 6

You will need:

For filling:

750 g white boneless fish
4 eggs
2.5 tbsp of butter
1 small onion
1 cup of sliced leeks (I’m using frozen for convenience)
1 tsp salt
12 whole peppercorns
2.5 tbsp plain flour
500 ml milk
3 tbsp chopped parsley
3 cloves
3 bay leaves

For mash:

1kg potatoes
4 – 6 tbsp of full fat milk
1 tbsp of butter
1/2 – 1 tsp of salt

Method:

Start by peeling your potatoes….

….if they are large cut them into halves/quarters, this will help to boil them quicker. Rinse the potatoes to remove any starch.

Also rinse your eggs (to remove any dirt) and add them to a stockpot along with the potatoes, with enough water to submerge the ingredients. Add 1/2 – 1 tsp of salt to the water (this helps season the potatoes while they boil).

Put the lid on the saucepan and allow the potatoes and eggs to boil for 15 – 20 mins, until the potatoes are completely cooked and you can insert a blunt knife into them.

While that boils, peel and finely slice 1 small onion.

Heat 2.5 tbsp of butter in a medium sized saucepan and once the butter is melted, add the finely sliced onions….

….followed by 1 cup of sliced leeks, 1 tsp of salt (adjust to your taste if you want more/less), mix and then allow to cook for a few minutes.

In the meantime use a pestle and mortar to crush the 12 whole peppercorns….

….till they look as fine as shown in the photo.

After several minutes add 2.5 tbsp of plain flour to the sauteed ingredients and stir well. Cook for a few minutes to remove the raw taste of the plain flour and then gradually add 500ml of full fat milk and stir in to combine….

….you will notice the milk is absorbed into the flour straight away as shown in the top left photo. Carry on adding and stirring slowly till all the milk has been added.

Next add 3 tbsp of chopped parsley, 3 cloves, 3 bay leaves and the fish….

….mix all the ingredients and add the crushed peppercorns too. You will find the fish begins to cook through very quickly and starts to break into pieces (bottom left photo), mash it as much or as little as you want at this stage. I quite like to break my fish using a wooden spoon into smaller fragments but this is entirely your choice. Make sure you taste the filling and add more salt if you feel it is necessary.

Cover the saucepan and allow the fish to cook through for about 5 minutes or until done.

The filling is ready when the fish has cooked through completely. Transfer to a dish of your choice, I’m using a rectangular ovenproof dish which is 30 cm by 20 cm. Remember to remove the bay leaves and cloves!

Allow the filling to cool slightly while you prepare the mash.

Preheat the oven to gas mark 6 at this point.

By now the potatoes and eggs should be cooked, drain them in a colander and rinse under cold water.

Peel and slice the boiled eggs into strips as shown in the photo or chop them up in any manner you prefer, leave to one side.

Using the same pan you used to prepare the filling (this will save on washing up) add the boiled potatoes, 1 tbsp of butter and 4 – 6 tbsp of milk….

….and mash using a potato masher till smooth. Depending on the type of potatoes you are using, you may (or may not) need extra milk to help create a smooth mash. Add 1/2 – 1 tsp of salt to season and mix well, ALWAYS taste to make sure you have added enough, nothing worse than unseasoned mash on top of a pie!

The filling will have cooled a little by this point.

Scatter the egg slices evenly over the fish filling (top left photo), then dot the mash over the top too until all the mash has been used up.

To smooth out the top I find the best way is to use a wet fork; dip a fork into water and go across the top of the mash, dip into the water again when you find the fork begins to drag. Go across the pie as I’m doing in the photo….

….carry on wetting your fork and smoothing out the top going across, ONLY go around the edge of the pie when you’re happy with how the middle looks.

Bake this for 25 – 30 minutes in a hot oven or alternatively, if you’re in a hurry, just brown off the top under a grill (the filling and mash are already cooked and will still be hot). Enjoy this with sides of your choice, ours were garlic bread, corn on the cob and some steamed vegetables.

Bon Appetit!

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