As I become more and more fed up of these winter months the more and more I've turned to comfort food. Great for my tummy, not so great for my scales. After a foray into the world of mac and cheese I thought it best to reign it in a little and move towards the healthier realm of comfort food. This pie is like a warm duvet washed in lenor's new fragrance of fish pie. You can vary what goes on in these a lot but I like to have some kind of shell fish, some kind of white fish and some kind of greenery. The sauce and topping I think you should stick with as it really does work. As the topping is crumbs you can serve with carbs but I would recommend some leeks as they go really well with the vermouth, some carrots would also look pretty here.
Ingredients:
600 g haddock cut into 3x3 inch segments (I use un-smoked, un-dyed)
250g cooked and peeled prawns
375ml skimmed milk
1 1/2 tbsp plain flour
2 tbsp unsalted butter (plus extra for cooking crumbs in)
1 bay leaf
2 cloves of garlic, mashed
2 tbsp vermouth
3 pieces of bread blitzed into breadcrumbs
1 lemon - finely grated rind only
2 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley
large handful of grated Parmesan
Bag of spinach, washed
seasoning
Firstly make your white sauce:
Heat the milk with the bay leaf in a sauce pan until it simmers then turn off the heat and leave to infuse.
Heat the two tablespoons of butter in a thick based saucepan. When it is bubbling whisk in the flour as well as 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp of black pepper until it forms a paste. Very slowly whisk in the hot milk lowering the heat to medium. Whisk constantly while the sauce thickens for about 15 minutes. Stir in the vermouth, let it cook for a few more minutes then turn off the heat. Remove the bay leaf when you add the white sauce to the pie dish.
Secondly, make your fish:
In a cold pan add the butter and garlic, allow the two to melt together. Once the butter is foaming add the portions of fish and season. Give them about 2 minutes on each side to colour and absorb the garlic. If you do have any of the lemon left over from grating the rind a little squeeze here wouldn't go amiss but not essential.
Thirdly, assemble:
Line a deep pie dish with as much spinach as you can fit in and press down to leave room on top for the fish. Place your fish on top, it should break up into 1 inch segments when you take it from the pan and scatter over spinach. Scatter over the prawns and then add the white sauce making sure everything is covered. Scatter the pie the Parmesan.
Then make your crumb topping:
Wipe the frying pan in which you cooked the fish. Heat some more butter in the pan and once it is bubbling add the bread crumbs and lightly toast. When they are turning golden season well add the parsley and lemon and stir through then take off the heat. Scatter directly over the pie for a thick crispy topping.
Cook in a pre-heated oven at 180C for about 25 minutes. Whilst it is in the oven you can steam/saute/boil your veg of choice. Serve together and enjoy!
