Absolutely

Christmas Cooking: Tom Kitchin’s Stargazy Fish Pie

Christmas cooking
Contents

The perfect alternative to traditional festive dining

Words Tom Kitchin

Serves 4-6

INGREDIENTS: 

  • 2 litres milk
  • 600g firm fish fillets (salmon/hake/cod), diced into 2cm cubes
  • 200g smoked fish fillet (smoked haddock)
  • 4-6 prawns
  • 2 hard boiled eggs
  • 1kg Maris Piper potatoes
  • 2 tablespoons of butter
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 beaten egg
  • Cleaned langoustine heads to decorate finished pie

Bechamel sauce: 

  • 500ml milk
  • 60g butter
  • 50g flour
  • 2 tablespoons grain mustard

METHOD:

To make the béchamel sauce:

1
First bring the milk up to a simmer in a small pot and set aside.

2
In another pan, melt the butter gently. Add the flour and stir until the mixture is smooth.

3
Add the milk a little at a time to avoid lumps. Keep adding and stirring until you have a creamy sauce.

4
Allow to cool slowly for 5 minutes and then add the grain mustard. Set aside.

To make the mashed potato:

1
Pre-heat the oven to 200°C/Gas 6. Bake the potatoes until the skin is crispy and middle soft.

2
While hot, scoop out the flesh and pass the potato through a drum sieve to remove lumps.

3
Heat the milk used for poaching the fish and stir into potato mixture with 2 tbsp butter. You may not need all the milk, add bit-by-bit until desired consistency is achieved. Season to taste.


Cooking the fish:

1
Gently heat the 2 litres of milk. Add the fish filets and poach for 3-4 minutes. Add the smoked fish and poach for a further 3-4 minutes. Carefully remove the fish and set aside.


TO ASSEMBLE THE PIE:

1
Preheat the oven to 190°C/as 5. Butter a baking dish and spread a small amount of béchamel on the bottom of the dish.

2
On top of that, spread the poached fish and quartered eggs.

3
Spread with the remaining béchamel. Top with the mashed potatoes, place the langoustine heads in the potato and brush with an egg wash.

4
Bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown and crispy.

Share this Article

Written by
Must Read

You May Also Like

Did you know you can now buy or subscribe to our printed issues?

EAT, DRINK, WIN!

Subscribe to our newsletter

Sign up to our monthly newsletter to find out what’s on your local area, exclusive competitions, the latest launches and much more!

Select the areas you want to hear about