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The best luxurious fish pie with cheesy mash

A delicious recipe for an indulgent and best luxurious fish pie with cheesy mash. 
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British fish pie with haddock, prawns and salmon recipe in a creamy sauce with fresh herbs and lemon
Prep Time:20 minutes
Cook Time:35 minutes

Ingredients

For the fish pie filling:

  •  
  • 500 gms smoked haddock cut into large bite-size pieces
  • 200 gms salmon fillets or trout skin & pin bones removed and cut into large bite-size pieces
  • 200 gms prawns cleaned, deveined and head & tail removed (optional)
  • 300 ml milk
  • 1 sachet of fish sauce concentrate fish stock optional
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 40 gms butter
  • 1 onion or 2 shallots finely diced
  • 1 thin celery stalk finely diced
  • 40 gsm flour
  • Zest and juice of half a lemon 2 Tbsp lemon juice
  • 2 Tbs dry vermouth or white wine optional
  • 250 ml 1 cup cream (divided)
  • 1 1/2 Tbs finely chopped parsley flat leaf
  • 1 Tbs finely chopped fresh dill
  • 2 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 45 gms / ½ cup grated mature Cheddar/Gruyere/Dalewood Fromage Huguenot
  • 15 gms Parmesan cheese finely grated

For the mashed potato topping:

  • 900 gms floury potatoes peeled and cut into evenly sized large chunks
  • ¼ cup of the 250ml cream used in the filling recipe
  • 20 gms butter plus more to brush on the top
  • 20 gms / ¼ cup grated mature Cheddar/Gruyere/Dalewood Fromage Huguenot
  • 15 gms grated parmesan
  • Salt and white pepper
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 200C/400F.
  • Boil the potatoes in a large pot of salted water until knife tender. Drain and set aside to dry properly.
  • While the potatoes are cooking, bring the milk, bay leaf and stock to a simmer and add the haddock piece. Cook for about 1 minute over a very gentle simmer then turn off the heat.
  • Scoop the partially cooked haddock out with a slotted spoon and place it in a pie dish with the other seafood. Remove the bay leaf from the milk which you will reserve.
  • Heat a medium to a large non-stick frying pan and add the butter, once bubbling, add the chopped onion and celery. Sauté over gentle heat for about 5 minutes until translucent.
  • Add the flour to form and paste and gradually add the reserved milk in parts to form a white sauce (bechamel).
  • Add the lemon zest & juice and dry vermouth and stir to combine. Add 190 ml of the cream reserving the 60ml/1/4 cup for the mashed potato topping.
  • Add the two kinds of grated cheese to the sauce along with the mustard, chopped herbs and salt and pepper. Adjust the seasoning to taste and ensure the flour has cooked through.
  • Pour the creamy fish pie sauce over the fish mixture and gently mix to coat. Spread this out over the base of the oven dish.
  • Once the potatoes have drained and dried, put them back in the pot you cooked them in and pass them through a potato ricer if you have or mash them with a potato masher. Add all the other ingredients and stir to combine.
  • Dollop the mashed potato onto the fish pie filling and gently spread it to ever the surface. Brush the top of the pie with additional melted butter. if you wanted to be fancy, you could put the mashed potato into a piping bag and pipe pretty swirls.
  • Bake on a baking sheet for 30-35 minutes until golden brown and bubbling. Allow the pie to rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Notes

Make sure you put a baking tray under the fish pie whilst baking as the sauce could bubble and leak out. 
Servings: 4 -6
Author: Sam Linsell