Fish Pie

This is utterly delicious. Unlike a lot of fish pies that use cream I use milk here so it is not so heavy but it is definitely not lacking in flavour. Fish pie is such an easy meal to make and encompasses everything in one dish. You can use whatever fish you have to hand. I used salmon, cod, trout and smoked haddock but if using a smoked fish I would advise to use sparingly to make sure it does not overpower the dish. Note the piping is totally unnecessary, however, I found it to be quite therapeutic during isolation.

Serves 6

Ingredients:

4 hard-boiled egg, quartered

25g butter

25g flour

1 onion, diced

120g chestnut mushrooms, sliced

1/2 lemon

1kg fish, skinned

600ml milk

2tbsp fresh herbs*, chopped

900g potatoes, peeled and diced

*parsley, chervil, dill work well. You could also add some capers

Method:

1). Firstly make the roux. This is equal quantities of flour and butter and is used to thicken a sauce. Melt the butter in a saucepan and the add the flour, whisking until you get a smooth mixture. Cook for a minute - this will remove the raw flour favour. Take off the heat and pop into a bowl and leave to the side. Put the potatoes into a saucepan, bring to a boil and simmer until cooked. Then mash until smooth and leave aside. If you fancy add some dijon mustard makes a nice little kick.

2). Next heat a little oil in a saucepan or large deep sided frying pan, add the onion and cook until translucent but not coloured. Meanwhile cut the fish into chucks of equals size (~1-2 inches). Once the onion is done remove form the pan and pop onto a plate.

3). Add the mushrooms to the pan the onions were in on a high heat. Be patient here you want the mushrooms to caramelised so leave them be, don't constantly move them around. Squeeze the lemon over them and season with salt and pepper. Once nicely caramelised remove to the plate with the onions.

4). Next, pop the fish into the emptied pan with the milk. Poached the fish for about 4 minutes - until just cooked, you will know when it has changed colour. Remove the fish with a slotted spoon and keep to the side.

5). Now you need to thicken the milk with the roux from earlier. Add it in, bring to the boil and whisk until the roux has broken down. Then reduce the heat and add the onions, mushrooms, fish, hard-boiled eggs, and herbs. Mix it altogether and check the seasoning.

6). Transfer into a overproof dish and top with the mashed potato - piping totally optional.

7). Enjoy with some peas if you like!

Nutritional Composition (per serving):

Energy (kcal): 506

Fat (g): 17

Saturates (g): 5.8

Carbohydrates (g): 36

Sugars (g): 6.8

Protein (g): 52

The Sports Chef