Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Fish Pie - My Twishparty Contribution

If it's Friday, it's got to be fish, right?  No more so than last Friday which was declared Twishparty night by the lovely Sarah & Kristin.  Initially it was meant to be seafood but the net was widened to include anything that swims...  A concrete date of the first Friday of every month has been set for our select cookalongs.  Next month is Vegetarian Cookalong - god knows what name that will be given for Twitter, but myself & The Hubs will be in la belle France on holiday and I will (hopefully) be participating via WiFi to save on horrific roaming bills.

I was in the mood to dine out of my freezer - I seem to be constantly putting stuff in it, but never take food out... so I delved deep into its icy depths and came up with a packet of Fish Pie Mix - how convenient!  I adore Fish Pie in all its many shapes and forms so decided to go back to my childhood memories and recreate a version of my Mum's pie.  This has a base of onions, peas and parsley sauce (yum).  Mum used to use pearl onions but they weren't available (boo hoo).  Now I'm going to have a little rant/moan.  Why can you buy them frozen in any supermarket in France for a pittance but they're as rare as a friendly bank in this country?  Moan over, back to the food.  The Hubs is a man who would never knowingly or willingly eat a vegetable if he was allowed, so my philosophy is to jam as many veggies into our meals as possible... hence the presence of broccoli and mushrooms in my pie!  Now my vague quantities serve 3-4 people, so you can double or halve the quantities as appropriate

Fish Pie

300g Fresh Fish (I used a mix of cod, smoked haddock & salmon)
200g Prawns
75g Frozen Peas
100g Baby Mushrooms
100g Broccoli, cut into small florets
75g Baby Onions or Shallots
250ml Parsley Sauce (yes, you can use a packet but add extra parsley & a squeeze of lemon)
400g Mashed Potato
50g grated Knockdrinna Lavistown Cheese



Firstly, make the mash as this will take longest. 
Somebody just may have been a lazy sod and used frozen mash to save time & washing up.  Don't be ashamed as it's actually healthier than the bold butter-laden mash I would make from scratch at home...

Preheat the oven to 200c/Gas 5


Now prepare the vegetables - peel & chop the shallots, trim the broccoli into small florets, clean & trim the mushrooms, add the peas and place in a large bowl. 


Now trim and bone your fish, cut into chunks and add to the bowl along with the prawns.


Make the parsley sauce & add to the fish & veg mix. 


Combine well and then lovingly place the mixture into an oven-proof dish.  Top with the mashed potato & bake for 25 minutes.  Add the grated cheese and bake for a further 20 minutes - adding the cheese halfway through stops it burning (trust me, I speak from experience!)


Remove from the oven & allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving. 

6 comments:

  1. I absolutely love fish pie. Such a great comfort food. Love the beautifully golden top on your pie - so inviting.

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  2. I hear you on the pearl onions. The Barefoot Contessa often calls for them in her recipes I and just have to leave them out, such a pity!

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  3. This looks lovely, definitely will give it a whirl - never knew you could buy frozon mash, is this foolish of me??

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  4. Not at all - I buy mine in Aldi where they sell either plain mash with some spring onion or gorgeous Carrot & Swede mash for about €1.30 a bag (a great way to get extra veg into a meal!!!). There's nothing in it that I wouldn't use at home. Tesco also stock their own brand plain mash or Aunt Bessie's - about €2. It's very handy when you're cooking for just 1 or 2 people

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  5. Wow Aoife this looks amazing!!! Must try soon!

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  6. Aoife this looks so good, I love fish pie. Know what you mean about the freezer, mine are exactly the same.

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