Fish Pie

I've just got round to making my first fish pie of 2025 and I took Granny27's idea of using potato slices instead of mash. I cooked them lightly first, drained and refreshed in cold water, then put them on top of the fish mix, dotted with a little butter and a sprinkle of cheese. It was utterly scrummy, so thank you Granny 27!

Poach the fish first, I use cod, haddock and salmon in ours, some peas, broccoli and sweetcorn, then cheese sauce. Top with mash, grated cheese and tomatoes. Never any leftovers!

Ultra processed food.

What is UPF please?

RosiesMaw2 -
I'm not suggesting refreezing thawed out ingredients .
I never have and wouldn't risk it .
I'm suggesting freezing cooked food .
I shouldn't have written refreeze , but freeze .

refreeze for heavens sake!

Esmay

Yes , thaw it and prepare your pie then refreeze .
I've done it many times .
I also add thawed out frozen spinach , peas and /or grated cheese to some to make a change .

But don't refreeze uncooked ingredients such as the fish pie mix, you would have to cook the pie freeze and reheat having thawed it out fully

Even if you think you are buying fresh fish, it has often been frozen on the trawler or quayside for transport so again you are usually advised not to referee.

Charlie Bigham for us this evening 😀
With peas.

Easy peasy (groan)

Tanjamaltija

@MayaParker001

What’s your go-to method for making fish pie? Do you have any favorite twists or family recipes? Let’s share tips to make this classic even better!

Quickie: 2 sheets pastry, one can onions, one can peas, filleted fish of choice, one can spinach, one egg, one handful grated raw potato, one can mackerel in tomato sauce, one handful grated carrot, one grated apple, anchovies optional. Line dish. Combine stuffing ingredients. Place over pastry, and cover with other sheet. Poke fork into pastry, or snip with scissors. Sprinkle with fennel seeds or poppy seeds or sesame seeds. Bake till pastry is golden brown.

Sorry,far too many cans for my liking.
UPF is not part of my cooking, preferring to cook from scratch.
I would never use tinned mackerel either - and especially not in tomato sauce. Tinned peas? I don't think so.
I know we all have our own tastes but this sounds like an unlikely and unappetising combination of ingredients.

Allira

^(dh can never have too many peas!)^

My SisIL used to say that peas weren't a 'proper vegetable'.
We do like peas

Luckily dh is equally keen on ‘proper’ vegetables, inc. cabbage and sprouts!

Sago

It’s not necessary to poach fish before it goes in the pie.

Just cube it, put in a pie dish with boiled egg then add your sauce and topping.

The 25+ minutes it takes in the oven and the warm/hot sauce is enough to cook the fish.

Poaching first will result in overcooked fish.

My poached fish doesn’t end up overcooked - it goes under the grill to brown the cheese-topped mash while it’s all still hot anyway.

It’s not necessary to poach fish before it goes in the pie.

Just cube it, put in a pie dish with boiled egg then add your sauce and topping.

The 25+ minutes it takes in the oven and the warm/hot sauce is enough to cook the fish.

Poaching first will result in overcooked fish.

M&S do pouches of sauce and I've often used the cheese sauce one in a fish pie. I usually top mine with a mix of chunky breadcrumbs, chopped spring onions and grated parmesan. Not a fan of the mash topping.

(dh can never have too many peas!)

My SisIL used to say that peas weren't a 'proper vegetable'.
We do like peas

Re method, I poach the fish in milk, then use that milk to make a white sauce, with a good slug of white wine and plenty of chopped parsley added. A fish or chicken stock cube. Pepper. Probably a little grated cheese.
No hard boiled eggs, could never see the point. Ditto capers.

Flake the poached fish and add to sauce, with defrosted prawns. Heat all through, pile into dish, top with lots of mash, grated cheese on top, whack under the grill.
Usually served with peas (dh can never have too many peas!)

Fish pie is a favourite with us too; like others I lightly poach the fish in the milk I'm using for the sauce and let it sit for a while to infuse. I often add a shake of Thai fish sauce for added flavour alongside dill, a soupcon of Dijon mustard and some lemon juice.

I've recently experimented with roughly crushing the cooked potato for the topping, mixing in some olive oil rather than butter and then artistically plonking it on top of the fish and sauce. A grating of cheese, some Schwartz Fish Seasoning and some breadcrumbs, and it comes up quite crunchy. I'm definitely going to try the sliced potato option, that sounds great.

I usually make two at a time, one for eating (in which case I'll put in some chopped hardboiled egg) and one for freezing, and the fish pie mix is more often than not from the freezer; we've never had any problem.

I’ve never seen them (and is tinned spinach still available here?). That certainly isn’t my idea of a fish pie. Sorry but I don’t fancy that recipe at all. 🤮

I've never seen tinned onions, are they widely available?

@MayaParker001

What’s your go-to method for making fish pie? Do you have any favorite twists or family recipes? Let’s share tips to make this classic even better!

Quickie: 2 sheets pastry, one can onions, one can peas, filleted fish of choice, one can spinach, one egg, one handful grated raw potato, one can mackerel in tomato sauce, one handful grated carrot, one grated apple, anchovies optional. Line dish. Combine stuffing ingredients. Place over pastry, and cover with other sheet. Poke fork into pastry, or snip with scissors. Sprinkle with fennel seeds or poppy seeds or sesame seeds. Bake till pastry is golden brown.

We hardly ever have any left, but I certainly would. I typically use (all out of the freezer) smoked haddock, white fish, small prawns. No salmon, I’m not mad keen unless it’s smoked. Plenty of mash, with cheese on top. 😋

Yes as long as it's cooked...I do it all the time. I cover dish with foil put it in a bag or cover with lid of dish

Some things shouldn't be re-frozen once defrosted (fruit juice, ice cream, anything acidic, raw meat, shellfish & fish), but I would think if you're defrosting raw fish and cooking it for the first time, then it should be OK to freeze the finished (cooked) dish - but cool it quickly and freeze as soon as it's cold.

Made it today. It was a fish pie mix that I found in the bottom of the freezer. Well it was well out of date but still frozen solid and in a freezer that freezes everything well. It was a Sainsburys one and came in cubes. So I from frozen poached the fish in some milk with some left over from Christmas (there is a theme going here) Dill that was on its last legs. When softened in the milk I mash it down then strained it into a sieve, popped the fish in a foil container, added peas sweetcorn a cheese sauce, more grated cheese salt and pepper and mashed potato. Baked it in the oven for 1/2 hr on 200. Now cooled so in the freezer well covered in extra thick foil it has gone. Will let you know when we eat it. I did the sniff test and it wasn't even fishy when defrosted which was a plus.

One tip for the perfect fish pie is to pre-cook the fish gently in milk or stock before assembling

Yes, I do this, drain then use the milk for the sauce.

Adding nutmeg is a good idea, I do that for the sauce in cauliflower cheese. White wine if there's any around.
Incidentally, does anyone add cheese in the sauce?

I have used hardboiled eggs in fish pie years ago (can't remember whose recipe that was) as it stretched it out a bit when there were six to feed.

Cod, salmon and smoked haddock but not usually prawns, I am wary of prawns.

Topped with larger boiled potatoes that have been grated (very sticky business but nice) then mingled with Gruyère and some dry bread crumbs is the fave at the moment as mash seems to get subsumed in the sauciness!
Grandmaderby We are rather partial to Charlie Bigham's smoked haddock bake and I think the top is grated potato and cheese which is good.

We love fish pie. I don't buy fish pie mix, preferring to but fillets and make my own mix but usually along the lines of cod, smoked haddock and prawns. I poach first and use the liquid in the white sauce.
My difference is I slice the potatoes rather than mash. They go beautifully crispy and don't soak up the sauce like mash is inclined to do. I sometimes top with a little grated cheese before finishing.