Friday night fish pie

Friday night fish pie

Everyone loves a fish pie. Lulu Grimes shares a delicious, easy recipe to pop in the freezer for those busy nights

Difficulty and servings

Easy

Makes 2 pies, about 10 servings

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 40 mins

Cook time

Cook 55 mins

Freezable

Method

  1. Simmer the potatoes for about 20 mins until tender, then drain and mash with most of the butter, plenty of seasoning and a little milk. Season and set aside.
  2. Meanwhile, cut the fish into 2cm cubes. Bring the milk just to a simmer in a large frying pan - when you see a few small bubbles, add the fish, onion and bay leaves, then cover and cook for 6-8 mins. Lift the fish out onto a plate and strain the milk into a jug.
  3. Melt the butter in a pan, stir in the flour and cook for 1 min over a medium heat. Take off the heat, pour in a little poaching milk, then stir until blended. Continue to add the milk gradually, mixing well until you have a smooth sauce. Return to the heat, bring to the boil, then simmer for 5 mins, stirring continuously, until it coats the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat, season with salt, pepper and nutmeg, then mix in the parsley.
  4. Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Divide the fish between 2 ovenproof dishes, about 1.3 litres each and strain any juices into the sauce. Scatter over the prawns, then add the eggs to both dishes if eating straightaway, or to just one dish if freezing the other. Pour the sauce over both. Spoon half of the mash over one dish so it covers everything, making sure it reaches the sides. Rough up the top with a fork and dot with remaining butter. Bake for 30 mins until the top is golden. Freeze the remaining fish and mash (see tips, below).
Try

Cooking from frozen

To cook, defrost the filling and mash overnight, then assemble the pie with boiled eggs and cook for 30 mins. You can also cook a whole pie from frozen. Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3, cover the pie with foil and cook for 1½ hrs or until you can easily push a knife through the mixture. Take the foil off, turn oven up to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 and cook for 30 mins more until the top is golden and the filling piping hot.

Make it healthier

Use 3 sheets of scrunched-up filo pastry as a topping rather than the mash and use semi-skimmed milk instead of full-fat. If you want to cut the salt content, replace the smoked haddock with some salmon fillet.

Freezing tips

You can either freeze the filling and mash separately (in freezer bags is fine) and add the egg once the filling has defrosted. Or, if you do not want to add egg, then the pie can be frozen whole.

562 kcalories, protein 45g, carbohydrate 45g, fat 24 g, saturated fat 13g, fibre 3g, sugar 9g, salt 2.25 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, February 2010.

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Latest comments and suggestions

Results 1-20

  • Binder photo coolagarry

    26 January 2010

    coolagarry rated this recipe

    4 stars

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  • Binder photo CMcK

    10 February 2010

    CMcK rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • Binder photo callmendinger

    14 March 2010

    callmendinger rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • Binder photo soso

    09 April 2010

    soso rated this recipe

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  • Binder photo specialk

    19 October 2010

    specialk rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Excellent! Added some peas and corn as well as some spring onion. It disappeared in no time.

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  • Binder photo Jameswibberley

    05 November 2010

    Jameswibberley commented on this recipe

    when do we add the prawns there is no instructions

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  • Binder photo lindyloo

    06 November 2010

    lindyloo rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Jameswibberley - see point 4, just sprinkle over. I made this while I was still pregnant for first few weeks of having a baby. a really lovely recipe, very comforting. A lot of fishmongers do a very reasonable fish pie fish mix too to save some time.

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  • Binder photo els

    08 November 2010

    els rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    great comfort food! I made halve the recipe since it is just the two of us,could not find smoked haddock here in Holland so used extra shrimp and it turned out very so good,will make this often.Next time I will add a handfull of frozen peas,just for color

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  • Binder photo Frantic Flapjack

    08 November 2010

    Frantic Flapjack rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    This was extremely tasty if a little labour intensive. I thought the sauce was quite thick but it tasted lovely.

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  • Binder photo emhall

    16 November 2010

    emhall rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Delicious - the whole family enjoy it.

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  • Binder photo Marie Botherway

    19 January 2011

    Marie Botherway rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    A very good dish indeed, I put in peas & leek, and my family said it was delish (a fantastic dish) as we go caravaning I am freezing the second one to take away with us. Thank you

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  • Binder photo is it worth waiting for?

    13 February 2011

    is it worth waiting for? commented on this recipe

    love fish pie....i cook it this way....http://isitworthwaitingfor.blogspot.com/

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  • Binder photo Maggie May

    04 March 2011

    Maggie May rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    This is a marvellous fish pie one of the tastiest I've ever had. I added some frozen peas but apart from that I made it exactly as the recipe said. Will definitely make again but might try halving the ingredients and making one pie instead of two.

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  • Binder photo sharebo

    27 May 2011

    sharebo commented on this recipe

    Excellent flavours but will probably leave the egg out next time.

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  • Binder photo Jo Williams

    17 July 2011

    Jo Williams rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • Binder photo lizard

    23 August 2011

    lizard rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • Binder photo Kieran

    25 November 2011

    Kieran commented on this recipe

    Add a spoon full of Coleman's mustard to white sauce for another level of flavour.

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  • Binder photo Sue

    30 November 2011

    Sue commented on this recipe

    I'm not sure how much milk is required for this recipe as it just states 1 1/2 full fat milk. Can anyone advise?

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  • Binder photo Fatface

    01 December 2011

    Fatface rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • Binder photo Fatface

    01 December 2011

    Fatface commented on this recipe

    As it tells you to add it to a frying pan and cook 6-8 minutes, I think it must be 1.1/2 cups, that would work perfectly for the sauce you go on to make. :)

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Difficulty and servings

Easy

Makes 2 pies, about 10 servings

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 40 mins

Cook time

Cook 55 mins

Freezable

Ingredients

FOR THE TOPPING

FOR THE FILLING

  • 1½l full-fat milk
  • 800g skinless white fish
  • 600g skinless smoked haddock fillet
  • 1 onion , quartered
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 140g butter
  • 140g plain flour
  • nutmeg , to season
  • small bunch parsley , leaves only, finely chopped
  • 200g cooked, peeled prawns
  • 6 eggs , hard-boiled and quartered (just 3 eggs if you are freezing one of the pies, as the eggs can't be frozen)
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562 kcalories, protein 45g, carbohydrate 45g, fat 24 g, saturated fat 13g, fibre 3g, sugar 9g, salt 2.25 g

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