Life Online - Sri Lanka's Latest Lifestyle Food Factor Fashion & Beauty Updates-life.lk -

Simply Scrumptious Fish Pie

Jun 24 2014.

It suddenly occurred to me that my children don’t eat enough fish. Being ones who are averse to any sort of spice, they usually turn their noses up at the innocently delicious fish patties or cutlet, familiar to Sri Lankan cuisine. The mention of a lip smacking spicy fish curry has them running a mile, thus not eating fish regularly has caused them to develop a dislike to an otherwise extremely delicious and healthy, vitamin packed food group. Therefore I made it my life’s mission to once again introduce fish back into our diets, all with the help of a simply scrumptious fish pie. Not spicy, cheesy and surrounded by some buttery potato mash, my children were once again won over. Fish is here to stay!

Ingredients

1 kg potatoes
1 carrot
2 sticks celery
150 g cheddar cheese
1 lemon
½ fresh red chillie
4 sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley
500 g of fillet fish
125 g raw peeled king prawns
1 good handful spinach, chopped, optional
2 ripe tomatoes, quartered, optional

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6 and bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Peel the potatoes and cut into 2cm chunks. Once the water is boiling, add your potatoes and cook until soft.

Meanwhile, in a deep baking tray grate the carrot, celery and cheddar on the coarse side of the grater. Use the fine side of the grater to grate the zest from the lemon. Finely grate or chop your chilli. Finely chop the parsley leaves and stalks and add these to the tray.

Cut the fillet piece into bite-size chunks and add to the tray with the prawns. Squeeze over the juice from the zested lemon drizzle with oil and add a good pinch of salt and pepper. If you want to add any spinach or tomatoes, do it now. Mix everything together really well.

Mash your potatoes with some extra cheese, a dollop of butter and a pinch of salt and pepper. Mash until nice and smooth, then spread evenly over the top of the fish and grated veg. Place in the preheated oven for around 40 minutes, or until cooked through, crispy and golden on top. Serve piping hot with tomato ketchup, baked beans, steamed vegetables or a lovely green salad.

By Mayuri Jayasinghe