Fish Pie
Smoked and white fish in a parsley sauce under a golden mash crust
- Serves
- 4
- Hands-on
- Total
- Level
- Some skill
British fish pie is comfort food at its best: chunks of white and smoked fish in a creamy sauce made from the milk they were poached in, topped with fluffy mashed potato and baked until bubbling. The smoked fish is what gives it depth, so don't leave it out.
Ingredients
Mash
- 1¼ kgfloury potatoes (2½ lb)peeled, in large chunks
- 60 gunsalted butter (4 tbsp)
- 100 mlwhole milk (scant ½ cup)warm
- 1egg yolk
- fine sea saltfor the potato water and to taste
Filling
- 600 mlwhole milk (2½ cups)
- 1bay leaf
- ½onionin one piece, plus 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 400 gskinless white fish (14 oz)cod, haddock or pollock
- 300 gskinless smoked haddock or other smoked white fish (10 oz)undyed
- 200 graw shrimp, peeled (7 oz)optional, or salmon
- 50 gunsalted butter (3½ tbsp)
- 50 gall-purpose flour (⅓ cup + 1 tbsp)
- 1 tspDijon mustard
- 1 bunchparsleyabout 30 g, chopped
- 1lemonzest and 1 tbsp juice
- 2eggsboiled 9 minutes and quartered (optional)
- 40 gcheddar (⅓ cup)grated, for the top
- freshly ground black pepper
- Diet
- Pescatarian
- Allergens
- fish, crustaceans, milk, gluten, egg, mustard
- Origin
- United Kingdom
- Season
- Autumn, Winter
Method
- Boil the potatoes in water salted with 15 g (2½ tsp) salt per 2 L until completely tender, 15–20 minutes. Drain, steam dry for 2 minutes, then mash with the butter, warm milk and egg yolk. Season to taste (Mashed Potatoes).
- Meanwhile, heat the 600 ml milk with the bay leaf and onion half until steaming. Add the white and smoked fish, bring back to a bare simmer and poach for 4 minutes — the fish should be only just opaque; it finishes in the oven.
- Lift the fish onto a plate with a slotted spoon. Strain and keep the milk; discard the bay and onion.
- Heat the oven to 200°C (400°F). Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the chopped onion and cook gently 5 minutes. Stir in the flour and cook 1 minute.
- Whisk in the warm poaching milk a little at a time until smooth, then simmer, stirring, until thick enough to coat a spoon heavily, 3–4 minutes. Stir in the mustard, parsley, lemon zest and juice and pepper. Taste — the smoked fish is salty, so add salt only if needed.
- Flake the fish into large chunks into a 2.5–3 liter baking dish (about 20 × 30 cm), removing any bones. Scatter over the raw shrimp and the eggs. Pour over the sauce and gently mix.
- Spoon the mash over the top, starting at the edges to seal, and rough it up with a fork. Scatter with cheese.
- Bake on a sheet pan until bubbling at the edges and golden on top, 30–35 minutes. The center should reach 70°C (158°F) — shrimp pink, fish hot through. Rest 10 minutes before serving.
Why it works
Poaching the fish in milk does two jobs at once: it partly cooks the fish and turns the milk into a seasoned, smoky stock for the white sauce, the same roux-thickened method as Béchamel. Under-cooking the fish at this stage stops it turning dry and stringy in the oven. Spreading the mash from the edges first stops the sauce bubbling up through it.
Common mistakes
- Fully cooking the fish before baking makes it dry and grainy.
- A thin sauce makes a watery pie because the fish releases liquid; it should be thick.
- Hot mash spread on hot filling sinks; let the filling cool slightly first if you have time.
Variations
- With leeks and peas
- Soften 1 sliced leek with the onion and add a handful of frozen peas with the fish.
- Crispy top
- Replace the cheese with 30 g panko mixed with 1 tbsp melted butter.
Make ahead and storage
Assemble completely, cool and refrigerate up to 24 hours; bake from cold for 45–50 minutes at 190°C (375°F), until the center is 70°C (158°F). Freezes for 2 months (thaw overnight in the fridge first).
Notes
Use dyed smoked haddock only if you can't find undyed. For a gluten-free sauce, thicken the milk with 35 g cornstarch slaked in a little cold milk. Crustaceans only if you add the shrimp.
