Luxurious fish pie - any ideas please

I make this pie most weeks.

I buy the fish pie mix from Tesco - you will probably need 2 packs to feed 8.

Ingredients
2 x packs fish pie mix - it's yummy with salmon, cod and smoked haddock.
1 x celeriac
clove of garlic
onion if you want
creme fraiche
potatoes
bread crumbs
hard cheese - I use cheddar

OK - here we go! I use the Remoska for cooking this, but a casserole dish in the oven would do as well.

Peel and thick slice the potatoes and give them about 10 mins of boiling.
Soften the celeriac, garlic and onion in a pan (or in the Remoska)
Put them in the dish with the fish and the creme fraiche.
Season a bit - I usually add some bouillon powder and some pepper - or even tiny bits of jalapinos if you like a bit of bite.
Spread the par-boiled potato slices over the top.

Stick it all in the oven for about 30 minutes.

Whizz up the bread crumbs with the cheese to make a crispy topping and put that on top and give it a few more minutes in the oven.

Enjoy!!

Mishap This sounds good - forgot to say I can't put any onion in as one person allergic but it is an option in your version. A couple of idiot questions from me (I did say I am not a cook) - celeriac - grated? How much creme fraiche - a big tub perhaps and do I not have to simmer the fish a little first - probably not as you say it works fine but all the books say I should. Thank you - this sounds achievable.

I especially like the crispy topping bit - make it a bit more interesting.

I never simmer the fish first - just bung it in.
I usually slice the celeriac.
A big tub of creme fraiche if you are feeding 8 I would think.
Don't know what the books say - I just made this up one day and everyone loves it!
I am a "just bung it in" type of cook!!

Tinned toms, tinned salmon, tinned condensed cream of mushroom soup top with mashed tattie and shove in microwave!
I do prefer to use fresh toms however and usually serve with lemon wedges!

Thanks again Mishap - I am a bung it in type too but this time I have to be a bit more precise. These folks will be entertaining guests and I mean 'guests'! Jeni love your version for home and my mum would love it too - do you remember when condensed soup tins had ideas on the back - like using oxtail soup in mince? Forgot about that and it was really tasty. They don't seem to do as many varieties now. I loved the Old Fashioned Tomato Rice - gone!

I poach the fish in seasoned milk for about 5 minutes so that I have flavoured milk to make a standard bechamel sauce. Place fish and sauce in greased dish, then top with mashed potato, nicest with grated cheese mixed in. Bake at 200° for about 20 minutes until golden. You can add any other flavouring or herb that takes your fancy.
I use skimmed milk to keep the calories down, but cream would make it more luxurious.

How about a mixture of scallops prawns and whitefish in a white wine and cheese sauce, with mashed potato piped round the plate?

Fish pie is my all-time favourite meal! I make it every week. Like mishap I use fish pie mix, (but try not to have one with too much smoked haddock in it as it can overpower the sauce) and like shysal I poach the fish to make a stock. Adding prawns takes it up a notch (if you're using cooked prawns add them to the sauce at the last minute), and Jeni's mixture sounds a real treat if you want to push the boat out! Make enough for 9 and I'll be there - can't resist it!

Changing the recipe slightly - have you thought of making a fish lasagna? Here's a recipe a friend gave me:

1 tablespoon oil, half a red pepper and half a green pepper finely
chopped. 8oz prawns, 1 large can pink salmon, grated rind and juice
of half a lemon
half a teaspoon dried tarragon (optional), 2 tablespoons chopped fresh
parsley, salt and pepper.

sauce - 2 oz margarine or butter, 3 oz plain flour, 2 pints milk

also 2 oz grated Cheshire or other cheese, sheets of lasagne

Lightly fry pepper in oil till slightly softened, stir in prawns,
salmon, lemon juice and rind, tarragon and parsley and seasoning.
Make white sauce, stir until thickened, stir fish mixture into sauce.
Layer sheets of lasagne and sauce mix finishing with sauce on top,
add grated cheese.
Bake 35 minutes 160C fan oven. Cover for the first 25 minutes and
remove for last 10 minutes of cooking time.

My notes:-

I have made this using a pack of fresh "fish pie mix" about 300 grams
from Tesco which I quickly microwave for a couple of minutes with some
lemon juice and then add a pack of fresh prawns. My main problem is I
use a large stoneware dish which takes a lot longer to cook through so
I allow 1 hour at 180C fan oven.

It tastes good and I have frozen any leftover portions to microwave at a later date.

Funny you should mention Fish Pie; as it's Good Friday I planned to do just that and turned on the computer for my recipes (and GN of course!). Here's the one I'm making in a few minutes!!

Fisherman's Pie


700g (1½ lb) mixed white & smoked fish
570ml (1pint) milk 100g (
4 oz) butter 50g
(2 oz) flour 100g (
4 oz) peeled prawns
2 hard boiled eggs
15g (1tbs) chopped parsley
(15ml (1tbs) capers if liked)
15ml (1tbs) lemon juice
Salt and pepper

For the topping
900g (2lb) freshly cooked potatoes)
50g (2 oz) butter
4 tbs milk
a little grated nutmeg
25g (1 oz) strong Cheddar cheese grated

A shallow baking tin
1.5l ovenproof pie dish (well buttered)
Heat oven to 200’ C
Arrange the fish in the baking tin and season well with salt and pepper. Pour over half the milk, dot with 25g butter in flecks. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes. Pour off and reserve the cooking liquid. Remove the skin from the fish and flake the flesh into fairly large pieces. Melt the remaining butter in a saucepan, then stir in the flour and gradually add the fish cooking liquid - stirring well after each addition. When all the liquid is in, slowly add the remaining milk. Season with salt and pepper. Next, mix the fish into the sauce with the prawns, the chopped hard boiled eggs, (capers) and parsley. Stir in the lemon juice. Put into the buttered pie dish. Mash the potatoes, butter and milk, add some nutmeg and spread the mixture evenly all over the fish. Smooth the surface, then using a round ended blade of a knife pattern the top by making 1cm indentations in rows. Finally sprinkle the cheese all over

Bake on a high shelf for 30-40 minutes until browned

When I make my chowder, I add some absolutely gorgeous king prawns. They are big buggers chaps, keep their texture beautifully and are only £2.49 for a pack that contains between 22 and 28 prawns!

They all sound delicious, but I'm definitely going to make your one, jeni!

Enjoy I haven't made it since dh died, but we both liked it!
Not worth the fiddle for one though.
I do do a quick version with 4cheese sauce (ready made) with some wine I though!

jeni always have the ingredients for your quick fish pie in my storecupboard.Might make one tomorrow.
The Tesco fish pie mix pack is handy too.Often pick one up and keep in freezer.
Still croaking a bit .Hope your throat is better and you're recovered from SF trip

I use the Tesco fish pie mixture too, always add some scallops (my favourite) and have to add a couple of hardboiled eggs (for OH because he doesn't like fish much it makes it more palatable for him).
I don't cook the fish first, just put it in a dish, cover with a white or cheesy sauce and cover with mashed potato. Cook till golden on the top which is plenty of time to cook the fish too.
Must try it in the Remoska sometime as my it sits in a cupboard not being used often enough

maniac yes thanks, I'm fine . Going to help dd with chicken pox baby who loves my iPad,on mon and wednesday

I think I have really been missing out - DH only likes fish as in 'fish and chips' at seaside. So I don't bother but I think, from all those great ideas, I could make an attempt. Kind of pulling it all together, if I either made fish stock and reduced it (faff) or used some bought stuff, simmered fish mix a couple of mins. drained, kept liquid, flaked fish, used liquid + stock + milk/cream to make white saucey thing - mix all tog - bung in some of those big prawns that I think I have to take black bit out of - top with mash that I have put through the ricer!!! and then some of the cheese/breadcrumb mix mishap mentioned and bung in the huge aga thing then pray. what do you think? I have no idea about quantities but will just have to wing it but can take guidance from the posted ideas and kind of double up. Fish lasagna - would never have thought of that and it sounds good.

I should have asked about this on GN earlier instead of worrying. I still don't quite get the egg addition that lots of books suggest. Please tell me if my idea is rubbish - I will have to give it a much smaller quantity trial run before I inflict it on 8 unsuspecting folks. Why oh why did I say yes - I suppose it keeps life interesting.

Thank you everyone and any more suggestions or help really welcome.

Don't forget the wine and cheese in the sauce! Look for a mornay recipe!

I've just eaten my fish pie and I am full!!

Jeni what a good idea - wine - certainly. Would cheese make it a bit solid? I have a fear of that but have mornay recipes. I have always been a bit poor so all our food has been of the frugal type and am out of my depth when cost is not a factor.

No! Just follow mornay recipe! Although I must admit I usually increase the wine to make it a little runnier. You must make sure though, that you cook the saucesuffienttly to get the raw alcohol flavour out!
The 4cheese ready made sauce simmered with wine (white, dry, mini bottle) does very well indeed.
The same sauce goes with pan fried veal sweetbreads!

Oh no jeni - not sweetbreads, My Mum used to cook those and I just couldn't get to like them, a strange texture, but then - I'm not one for any form of offal really

Poor you!
It's lovely!
Sweet dreams all