This fish pie recipe I found in Mary Berry and Lucy Young’s The Complete AGA cookbook was probably the strangest thing we made last year. I had never known fish pie was a thing until we spotted one for sale at Darts Farm, on the way to Port Isaac in the fall of 2022.
Excited to give something new a try, we bought a frozen fish pie and had it for dinner on our first night at our stay at Doc Martin’s surgery.
It was so tasty that I knew I wanted to try and recreate it when we got back home. And well, in December, we did. Or rather, the HH did.
And oh my was it unique! We couldn’t stop talking about it.
Although unusual, and your house will stink like nothing you’ve ever smelled before for 2 days afterwards, this slightly adapted recipe for fish pie is comfort food at its finest.
If you had a great old Aunt that was British and liked to cook, this fish pie would be on the dinner menu at her cottage.
Tasty and unique, that’s for sure.
Be brave. Try this recipe. You’ll be so glad you did.
Keep Calm and Carry On,
~Mavis
Fish Pie Recipe
Ingredients
For The Sauce
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
16 ounces hot milk {we used 2%}
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
Salt and pepper to taste
For The Pie
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
½ small fennel bulb sliced thinly
10 ounces button mushrooms, sliced
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 ½ pounds fresh haddock
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
3 hard boiled eggs, peeled and sliced
4 ounces crushed Ritz crackers
Pinch of paprika
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 400F.
Grease a 2 quart casserole dish and set aside.
For this recipe you’ll need to make the sauce first.
In a large saucepan melt 2 tablespoons butter. Slowly whisk in the flour and cook for a minute or so to thicken. Gradually whisk in the hot milk until thickened and boiling.
Remove the sauce from the heat, whisk in the mustard and 2/3rds of the shredded cheese. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
In a large frying pan, melt 2 tablespoons butter and saute the sliced fennel for 2-3 minutes until softened . Add the sliced mushrooms and saute for another 2-3 minutes until the mushrooms have softened as well.
Slowly stir in 5 tablespoons of the cheese sauce.
Pour mixture into the bottom of a 2 quart casserole dish and set aside.
Place 2 tablespoons of flour, salt and pepper on a dinner plate and gently mix. Next coat the haddock pieces with the seasoned flour mixture. Lay the coated haddock over the mushroom and fennel mixture in the casserole dish.
Arrange egg slices over the haddock and then pour the remaining sauce over the top.
In a small bowl, mix the crushed crackers with the remaining ⅓ cup of grated cheese and sprinkle on top. Dust with paprika and bake in the middle of the oven for 30-35 minutes until the sauce is bubbling and the cracker crust is a golden color.
Serve warm.
SueD says
I’m not a huge fan of fish overall-leftover from childhood when one of my chores was dinner cleanup. However, I did have fish pie when I was working at CelebrationEurope in 2016, and I went back for seconds. It was that good. I’ll be trying this recipe and using my mini pie pans.
Cindy Brick says
If you use whole fish in this recipe, keep their heads on and let them ‘peek’ up and out of the crumbles. That’s called ‘stargazey pie.
I tried the bruschetta recipe — Husband liked it a lot better than I did, though I thought it was ‘okay.’ But I think I used too much liquid in the stuffing — it was a tad mushy, instead of crunchy.
Got any recipes for ‘end of the month?’ Participating in a no-spend (or just a little) monthly challenge, and I only have two eggs left.
Mavis Butterfield says
Beans and rice, rice and beans. 🙂 🙂 🙂 https://www.onehundreddollarsamonth.com/creamy-spiced-red-beans-and-lentils/
KC says
It’s hard to know about end of the month meals without knowing the pantry in question, but curried lentils or curried chickpeas are fabulous and cheap, in addition to the regular bean options (vegetarian bean chili! tomatoes and beans over potatoes! black beans and rice!).
If you’ve got veggies, combining them with peanut sauce as a filling protein boost can work well (peanut butter plus a liquid and then something spicy, sour, and salty to expand the flavors – most store-bought peanut butter has the sweet built in). We also sometimes make peanut-sauce pasta salads, and peanut-sauce full-meal fried rice (which can incorporate your two eggs if you want, along with just about every random veggie, etc. that you’ve got).
And if you want to streeeetch 2 eggs, breakfast-for-dinner in the form of waffles or pancakes or [depending on the number of eaters] French Toast might work. 🙂
Hope you have fun with the challenge!
Cindy Brick says
Thank you, KC! (And thank you, Mavis…)
Husband LOVES pancakes, and the mix I have takes them — or not. I’m ok there. One egg will go toward cornbread, to go with green chili already made. (Colorado’s state dish, practically.)
I’ve got lots of butter, enough milk (if I’m careful), plenty of canned items. I was thinking chicken & rice, tacos (until the greens and cheese run out), and a sort-of stirfry. And I just found a pound of bacon in the back of the freezer!
And yes, rice and beans, beans and rice. Thanks, guys.
Mimi says
My Canadian niece made fish pie when I visited and I loved it. Her recipe (from Jamie Oliver) is one I’d definitely recommend – I’ve since made it myself.
JulieP says
Being English, we have fish pie at least once a month, I put mashed potato on the top of mine with sprinkled cheddar. I use all sorts of fish, cod, smoked haddock, prawns, our supermarkets actually sell in the frozen foods aisle a bag of fish for fish pies, what goes in usually depends what’s on offer as fish is not a cheap option. My mum put peas and carrots in hers, with the mashed potato on the top it was a one pot meal.
I’ll have to try a ritz cracker topping. I’ve made the Jamie Oliver fish pie too, it’s delicious.
Sue says
Thank you for the recipe, Mavis! I am one of those who pestered you for it. :^)
Okay, this was absolutely DELICIOUS! DH & I both loved it! He called it “oven-baked chowder”, and he was right on the mark. Absolutely loved all the veg. DH wants to add a can of corn to it next time.
I wan to reassure everyone that it DID NOT stink to high heaven while cooking! I don’t know why you had that experience, Mavis, but I certainly didn’t.
I did make a few tweaks:
– Sauce: reduced milk to 1.5 cups, which was plenty.
– Sauteed a finely diced onion & garlic clove with the mushroom/fennel HIGHLY recommend!
– Mixed 2 tbs olive oil with crumbs (instead of cheese) plus 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
– Used only 1 lb of wild-caught cod. Used a 16-oz pkg of mushrooms to compensate.
– Skipped flouring the fish. Cut it into sections & seasoned both sides with salt, pepper, roasted garlic powder, onion powder, and Italian seasoning before nestling fish into the veg.
-Lightly mashed 2 eggs and patted them into the sauce over the fish–because I forgot to put the slices in before the sauce! I did like them crumbled better than sliced.
– Let the pie rest for ~10 min before serving.
Absolutely brilliant fish pie, thank you! We will both have it again!