Aishling Moore: How to make a puff pastry fish pie that the whole family will love

A creamy and comforting bechamel-based filling, packed with beautiful diced fresh and smoked fish, herbs, mustard and lemon zest. Picture: Chani Anderson.

This weekend’s puff pastry fish pie is a family favourite, and perfect for serving after a big Easter walk. 

Stick it in the centre of the table and let everyone help themselves, serve with some buttered petit pois or whatever seasonal veggies you can get a hold of. Irish asparagus and purple sprouting broccoli are both in season now.

A creamy and comforting bechamel-based filling, packed with beautiful diced fresh and smoked fish, herbs, mustard and lemon zest.

Choose a mix of fish if you can; here I have used some fabulous chunks of fresh pollock, monkfish and gurnard, along with a whole side of flaky natural smoked haddock.

A handful of fresh shrimp or prawns are a wonderful addition if available or half a kilo of cooked and deshelled mussels are a great inclusion too, adding lots of extra oceanic depth!

Good-quality fish stock is a must for this pie. So, grab some fish bones from your local fishmonger (flat fish bones make the best stock) and make a batch and freeze the excess for future recipes.

Puff pastry fish pie

Good-quality fish stock is a must for this pie. So, grab some fish bones from your local fishmonger (flat fish bones make the best stock) and make a batch and freeze the excess for future recipes.

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 20 mins

Cooking Time

 1 hours 20 mins

Total Time

 1 hours 40 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• Fish stock:

• 275g fish bones (stomachs and heads removed)

• 1 tbsp rapeseed oil

• 1 onion sliced

• 1 stick of celery sliced

• 1 small leek sliced

• 4 cloves garlic

• ½ tsp whole black peppercorns

• 3.5 litre water

• Fabulous Fish Pie:

• 400ml milk

• 300g fresh fish, diced into bite-sized chunks (such as hake, monkfish, pollock, cod)

• 200g smoked fish, diced into bite-sized chunks (such as haddock, coley or pollock)

• 70g butter

• 1 leek diced

• 2 cloves of garlic, minced

• 70g plain flour

• 350ml warm fish stock

• 1tb Dijon mustard

• 1 tb chopped parsley

• 1tb chopped dill

• 1 lemon zested

• For the topping:

• 1 x 320g sheet puff pastry

• 2 egg yolks beaten

• Sea salt flakes

Method

1. Fish stock:

2. To make the fish stock heat a medium sized pot on moderate heat. Sweat the chopped leek, onion, celery, garlic, black peppercorns and fish bones in the rapeseed oil for 5 minutes.

3. Add 3.5 litres of cold water and simmer. Cook for 30 minutes, being careful to not allow the stock to come to the boil. Using a ladle, skim the surface of the stock to remove any impurities and produce a clear stock.

4. After 30 minutes, strain the stock and discard the vegetables and bones. Set aside to cool. 

5. Fabulous Fish Pie:

6. Place the milk in a medium sized wide based saucepan on a moderate heat. Once warm add the diced and smoked fish to poach.  Cook for 3-4 minutes until the fish is just cooked.

7. Carefully remove the fish from the milk using a slotted spoon and set aside.  In a separate medium-sized saucepan, cook the leek and garlic in butter. Stir occasionally and cook without colour until the leeks are softened. This will take approximately 4 minutes.

8. Add the plain flour and mix well using a wooden spoon. Next, slowly add the still-warm milk to the pot mixing all the time to prevent lumps from forming.

9. Add the fish stock and cook for 8 minutes to thicken. Stirring regularly to prevent the base of the pan from catching.

10. Remove from the heat and add the chopped herbs, mustard and lemon zest, season to taste. Gently fold through the poached fish and place in a 30cm-wide pie dish.

11. For the pie topping, cut the puff pastry into long 1 cm-wide strips.

12. Arrange half of the strips of puff pastry in one direction across the pie filling. With the remaining strips, interweave under and over with the remaining strips of pastry to create a lattice pattern.

13. Trim the excess pastry at the sides of the dish. Brush the pastry with the beaten egg yolk and sprinkle with sea salt flakes.

14. Bake in a preheated oven at 190°Celsius / gas mark 4 for 25-30 minutes until the pastry is golden brown and the filling is bubbling.

Fish tales

· Dice the fish and smoked fish into similar-sized pieces so they cook at the same time when poaching in the milk.

· Adding the already warmed milk reserved from the poaching of the fish ensures a lump-free and creamy roux-based sauce.

· The same principle applies to having the fish stock warm.

· If using frozen puff pastry ensure the pastry is defrosted before you begin.

· The whole pie can be assembled and topped with the puff pastry a day ahead and cooked from the refrigerator in a preheated oven.

· This fish pie filling can also be topped with mash potato instead of the puff pastry if preferred.

· Swap the parsley and dill for fresh chives or chervil if you wish.