I grew up in Yorkshire and we take pie very seriously indeed. Ths Fish Pie was a staple of my mother’s, adapted from one by her beloved Marco Pierre White, and I used to love it when she cooked it for me and the family. As a kid this was probably the best thing I’d ever tasted and this is still the best recipe for Fish Pie that I’ve ever come across.
Ingredients (8 person)
250g salmon
250g white fish (haddock/cod)
150g cooked mussels, deshelled
1 bunch of baby leeks, blanched and cut into 1 strips
125g grated Gruyere
Veloute:
3 shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
250ml white wine
250ml dry white vermouth
½ litre fish stock
½ litre double cream
Potato Topping:
1kg floury potatoes (marris piper/charlottes)
300 butter, cut into cubes
Salt and pepper
Method
1. Cook the shallots in the butter until soft, without any colour.
2. Deglaze the pan with the white wine and vermouth. Boil and reduce to a syrup (about a third of volume).
3. Add the fish stock, boil again and reduce by half.
4. Add the double cream, return to the boil and simmer for 5-8 minutes to reduce so it coats the back of a spoon.
5. Pass through a fine sieve and set aside.
6. Make mash topping: Peel the potato, chop roughly and simmer in boiling water until cooked.
7. Drain, mash well and beat in the butter and season with salt and pepper.
Assemble pie:
8. Trim/clean the pieces of fish and cut into evenly sized pieces.
9. Preheat your oven to 180C.
10. Heat the fish velouté in pan and poach the pieces of fish in the velouté until just cooked through. Remove from the pan and place in a pie dish along with the mussels, leeks and velouté – season to taste.
11. Pipe (or fork!) the potato onto the pie, sprinkle with the cheese and bake in the preheated oven for 10-15 minutes until piping hot in the centre and the top of the potato has started to turn brown.
