Although this is a Luxury Fish Pie, it's easy to make for a special dinner or supper. The pie is filled with an assortment of fish and seafood in a creamy sauce and topped with a layer of grated potato rosti.
Luxury Fish Pie
This is my ideal recipe when I have friends for dinner. It looks and tastes special, but it's easy to prepare. It does take a bit of time, but some of the preparation can be done in advance if you'll be short of time on the night.
What makes this a Luxury Fish Pie?
A few ingredients turn what would be an everyday fish pie into a Luxury Fish Pie:
- Creme fraiche and wine in the sauce gives it a creamy, velvety texture and add a tang to the flavour
- A pack of uncooked mixed seafood. Usually, this contains prawns, squid, mussels and scallops, which adds a lot of variety and lifts this from being a run-of-the-mill fish dish. If you keep fish and a pack of seafood in the freezer, you can make a fish pie at short notice.
- A rösti topping of grated potatoes is delicious. It takes a bit of extra time, but if you've got it, or you're fed up with pastry, it's worth it.
You could also add smoked fish, such as haddock or salmon fillet, which gives another level of flavour.
How is it an Everyday Luxury Fish Pie?
This is Everyday entertaining - the sort of thing you make when you don't have (or want to spend) a day to cook dinner, but you want a dish to impress.
This is essentially a white sauce, with some additional ingredients (wine and creme fraiche), with a variety of nice fish and seafood in it.
You can make the potato rösti topping in the recipe or, if you're really pushed for time or energy, buy a pack of ready-rolled butter puff pastry, and brush with beaten egg before cooking, as I did in the Chicken and Broccoli Pie. You will have an equally nice looking and tasting pie with a bit less effort.
You'll save 10-15 minutes prep time by using pastry, which might make all the difference!
Serve the pie with buttered cabbage or tenderstem broccoli and carrots.
Helpful Tools
- 5 bladed herb cutting scissors – Useful for cutting the dill and parsley (or any other herbs you use). Most importantly, they don’t cut your fingers.
If you like this...
...Why don’t you try:
Salmon en Croûte
Baked Lemon Salmon
Salmon and Prawn Quiche
Recipe
Luxury Fish Pie
Ingredients
For the pie:
- 250 ml milk
- 1 bay leaf
- 500 g fish fillets, e.g. salmon and haddock
- 400 g mixed raw seafood, fresh or frozen
- 60 g butter
- 60 g plain/all-purpose flour
- 150 ml dry white wine
- 150 g creme fraiche
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley (15ml)
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill (15ml)
- 6 small cornichons or gherkins
- Salt and pepper
For the potato topping:
- 750 g non-floury potatoes e.g. Desiree
- 60 g strong Cheddar cheese
- 40 g butter
Equipment
Instructions
Preparation:
- Scrub the potatoes and cut larger ones to the size of the smaller ones
- Steam for 15 minutes OR Barely cover with water and boil for 10 minutes. The potatoes will be half-cooked. Drain and wrap in a clean tea-towel
- Butter the baking dish
- Grate the cheese
- Chop the cornichons into ½cm slices. Chop the herbs
- Melt 40g butter for the topping
- Preheat the oven to 220°C/ 200°C fan/ gas mark 7/ 425°F
Make the sauce:
- Heat the milk in a large saucepan with the bay leaf. Gently cook the fish (but NOT the seafood) in the milk on a LOW heat for 5 minutesWatch the milk! It will boil over if the heat is too high
- Move the pieces of fish to a plate. Strain the liquid. Keep it - you will use it in the sauce
- Rinse out the saucepan and add 60g butter for the sauce. Heat on a MEDIUM heat until melted. Add the flour, mix and cook for 1 minute
- Gradually add the milk, beating it in so that you have a smooth sauce. Add the wine gradually, then beat vigorously to combine
- Beat in the creme fraiche, parsley, and dill, and stir in the cornichons. Add salt and pepper until it tastes right, and remove from the heat
Make the potato topping:
- Grate the potatoes on the coarse side of the grater into a bowl. Remove the skins first if you want - or if they're thick
- Add the melted butter and mix in well so that all the potato is coated with butterEasiest with 2 forks so it doesn't clump
Assemble the Luxury Fish Pie:
- Take the skin off the fish and divide into large-ish chunks
- Put the fish into the sauce and mix gently. Add the raw, defrosted seafood and mix in carefully
- Pour the sauce into the baking dish. Top with the potatoes and even out. Sprinkle with grated cheese
- Cook for 35-40 minutes until the top is golden and bubbling.
Notes
Everyday Cooks Tips:
Ingredients:- Potatoes - Floury potatoes will lose their shape when cooked, so won't work as well for the rosti topping. They'll still taste fine, but it will be more like mashed potato
- White sauce - If you're unsure how to make a white sauce, click here for step-by-step instructions to make a similar sauce (which uses all milk but the method is the same).
- If you're cooking the pie later, wait until the sauce is cool before adding the cooled fish and seafood
- Put the lid on the saucepan while it cools to avoid a skin forming
- Don't let the sauce get too cold because it thickens as it cools and the fish won't mix in
- Add the topping
- Loosely cover with clingfilm and refrigerate until you are ready to cook
- Add 10 minutes to the cooking time
Valrrie Smythe says
Can this recipe be frozen then 're heated , thank you
Valerie Smythe says
Can the recipe for luxury fish pie be frozen and re heated ?
Susie says
Hi Valerie. I haven't tried it but it should be fine. I suggest that you freeze the sauce and potatoes separately and give the sauce a stir once it's defrosted in case it begins to separate.
Then assemble and cook for 45-50 minutes until it's heated through.