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 45.0g, carbohydrate 45.0g, fat 24.0 g, saturated fat 13.0g, fibre 3.0g, sugar 9.0g, salt 2.25 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, February 2010.

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Latest comments and suggestions

Results 21-29

  • 02 December 2011

    Cubie commented on this recipe

    Sue, it's one and a half litres of milk.

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  • 18 December 2011

    shabadar123 rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    1/2 to 2/3 of the total ingredients makes a pie enough for 2 'big' people! Suggest using blender to make the sauce though, as mixing flour to make a smooth sauce is always laborious!

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  • 09 March 2012

    Sparx rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Made this with tilapia and smoked salmon which I stirred in at the end. I also added a splash of wine for an extra something and it went down a treat! Will definitely make again.

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  • 08 June 2012

    MunchinUinsin rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    All eaten by all 5, with seconds for 2 greedy guts.

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  • 28 June 2012

    luv2cook4 rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • 13 October 2012

    Zanny Perklinger commented on this recipe

    Added capers and a little English mustard to the sauce. Excellent

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  • 02 December 2012

    Telb commented on this recipe

    Could this be kept in the fridge overnight instead of freezing in order to put into the oven the following day?

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  • 03 April 2013

    Zucchu rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Very easy recipe, light and tasty. I divided all ingredient by 2, except the prawns. I used 1 pint of semi skimmed milk and that was just enough.

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  • 06 April 2013

    Lorna commented on this recipe

    Just as an everydaydish. Is there a shortcut app to my computer?

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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 45.0g, carbohydrate 45.0g, fat 24.0 g, saturated fat 13.0g, fibre 3.0g, sugar 9.0g, salt 2.25 g

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