Well with the rain pelting down on us in the evenings, who isn’t in the mood for a comforting, creamy and cheesy fish pie. This will go down like a storm amongst the youngsters who are averse to anything spicy and all that cheesy fish goodness will tick a lot of mummy boxes in terms of healthy eating. You can make this dish in individual ramekins or make it a family affair for everyone to enjoy, either way there definitely will not be any leftovers!

 

Ingredients

 

- Pieces of mullet or seer fish, any soft fish will do

- Leeks

- Onions

- Potatoes

- Cheese

- flour

- Butter

- Milk

- Seasonings

 

Take your fish (quantity will depend on the number you are cooking for) and poach it in some milk and butter. Make sure the fish is completely covered and poach for ten minutes. Once done, drain the liquid, but keep it to make the cheese sauce, flake the fish, taking out any bones and place in the bottom of your pie dish. In a frying pan, fry up some leeks and onions, you can also use spinach if you’d like. Once done then layer on top of the fish. Make sure you season each layer with salt and pepper. 

 

Boil potatoes and mash with some salt, pepper and some butter. And set aside for the topping of the pie.

 

To make the cheese sauce, in a saucepan put in a dollop of butter and a heaping tablespoon of white flour. Mix thoroughly until the butter and flour has amalgamated and cooked through a little, slowly start adding your drained excess liquid used to poach the fish. Mix thoroughly so as to avoid any lumps. If you run out of liquid, some vegetable stock will also do. Once you have a thick sauce, add in heaping amounts of shredded cheese. You can put in any cheese you prefer, I usually use cheddar. Stir through until melted.

 

Now to finish off the pie, pour three quarters of your cheese sauce over the layers of fish and leeks. Take your mashed potatoes and layer over the leeks. Top the pie off with the remaining cheese sauce , some extra shredded cheese and a handful of breadcrumbs to give it a crunchy topping. Place in the oven at gas mark 180 degrees for twenty minutes or until the cheese is melted and golden. Enjoy.

 

(Text by Mayuri Jayasinghe)