Rick Stein's fish pie
The older I get, the keener I am to keep ingredients out of recipes instead of adding them. This is as simple a fish pie as you can imagine, but if the fish is good (and that includes the smoked fish, which must be of the best quality), there is no better fish dish in the world than British fish pie with boiled eggs and parsley.
Ingredients
- 1 onion, thickly sliced
- 4 cloves
- 1 fresh bay leaf
- 900ml/1½ pints whole milk
- 600ml/21fl oz double cream
- 900g/2lb unskinned pollock fillet
- 450g/1lb undyed smoked haddock fillet
- 8 free-range eggs
- 100²µ/3½´Ç³ú butter
- 90²µ/3¼´Ç³ú plain flour
- large handful flatleaf parsley, chopped
- 24 large cooked prawns
- freshly grated nutmeg
- salt and freshly ground white pepper
For the topping
- 2.5kg/5lb 8oz floury potatoes such as Maris Piper or King Edward, peeled and cut into chunks
- 100²µ/3½´Ç³ú butter
- 2 free-range egg yolks
- 200–300ml/7–10fl oz whole milk
Method
Put the onion slices, cloves and bay leaf in a large pan with the milk, cream, pollock and smoked haddock. Bring just to the boil, then turn down and simmer for 8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, lift the fish out onto a plate and strain the cooking liquor into a jug.
Boil the eggs for 8 minutes, then drain and leave to cool.
When the fish is cool enough to handle, break it into large flakes, discarding the skin and bones. Put the fish into a shallow 3.5 litre/6 pint ovenproof dish.
Peel the hard-boiled eggs, cut them into chunky slices and arrange on top of the fish.
Melt the butter in a pan, stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Take the pan off the heat and gradually stir in the reserved cooking liquor. Return the pan to the heat and bring slowly to the boil, stirring all the time. Leave to simmer gently for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat, stir in the parsley and prawns and season with nutmeg, salt and white pepper. Pour the sauce over the fish and leave to cool. Chill in the fridge for 1 hour.
To make the topping, boil the potatoes for 15–20 minutes until tender. Drain and place in a wide mixing bowl. Mash the potatoes with an electric hand mixer until no lumps remain, then add the butter and egg yolks, season with salt and freshly ground white pepper and beat in enough of the milk to form a soft, spreadable mash.
Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6. Spoon the mashed potato over the fish mixture and mark the surface with a fork. Bake for 35–40 minutes, until piping hot and golden brown.
