Mini Fish Pies with Crispy Potato Topping

Hello! Happy Thursday to you all. Hope you’ve had a good week. I have to say this one has sped by…i’m currently working on my meal plan for next week just need to write up the shopping list and then i can publish it for you all. But for now let’s stick to this week…and these yummy mini fish pies.

There are a few components here but really it’s a case of making a white sauce, poaching some fish, popping some potatoes in the oven and then assemling it all together! All the steps are really straight forward and i’ll talk you through them here for you.

I used crispy pototoes as my topping just to switch things up a bit but of course you can use a standard mash potato to top these. Totally up to you but i’ll talk you through the crispy potato version! It’s good!…and actually less hassle than making mash!

I made a couple of small mini fish pies and then one larger one but if doing all ramekins this will probably make up to around 6-8. or you can do 2 small and one larger one..

 

So first you need to chop up your potatoes into small cubes pop them onto a baking tray, drizzle with some oil and sprinkle of salt and then pop these into the oven at 180C for around 35 minutes. Once these are done remove from the oven and leave aside until you’re ready. You don’t want these to be too crispy as you’ll be heating them again in the oven once you’ve assembled your fish pie but you do want them to be cooked through.

So now you need to poach your fish in some milk, around 600ml. I used oat milk for this to cater for Maisie’s dairy intolerance and I added a few peppercorns and a couple of bay leaves to a large saucepan. You can also add some sliced onion to this (I forgot this time around!!) You need to make sure your fish is covered in the milk.

Bring the milk up to the boil then pop your fish in and then reduce the temp and let the fish poach in the milk for around 5-6 minutes or until the fish is flaky and cooked through.

Now you need to grab yourself a mixing bowl and add your  prawns and a large handful of spinach. Add your cooked smoked haddock, making sure you keep the milk the haddock was cooked in as you’ll need this for your white sauce. So use a slotted spoon to take the fish out and then place into the mixing bowl and gently flake the fish.

While the fish is poaching you can boil a couple of eggs for around 6 minutes so that they are hard boiled. Rinse under cool water, peel and chop and then add to your mixing bowl with the other ingredients.

Now it’s time to make your white sauce to go with the fish pie.

Take 1 tbsp butter ( again I used a dairy free alternative) and melt this in a saucepan. Once melted stir in 1 tbsp plain flour and 1tsp of mustard powder. Stir and cook the roux so as to cook out the flour a little. A couple of minutes should do it.

Next you need to very slowly add the milk stirring continuously so as to avoid any lumps. It will need around 200ml of the milk unti you have a lovely creamy sauce which coats the back of a wooden spoon.

 

Once the sauce has been made simply pour this into the mixing bowl, season well and then stir through.

Now it’s time to assemble.

Take your ramekins and place your cooked peas and sweetcorn at the bottom.

Now add the fish mix on top…

and then top with your cooked potatoes.

All you need to do now is sprinkle some grated cheese over the top. Again i’ve used a dairy free alternative but you can use cheddar or paremsan or a mix of the two.

You can keep these in the fridge at this stage until you’re ready to eat or simply pop into the oven at 180C for 20 minutes or so to melt the cheese and heat up. If cooking from chilled then you’ll need to up the cooking time to around 35/40 minutes.

Enjoy with a side of broccoli!

 

So as ever to recap here’s what you’ll need:

• Potatoes – 3 large Maris Piper potatoes – cubed
•  2 Smoked haddock fillets
• 150g Cooked King prawns
• 2 hard boiled eggs – peeled and roughly chopped.
• 1 tbsp plain flour
• 1 tbsp butter or dairy free alternative
• 1 tsp mustard powder
• several peppercorns
• 600ml milk (i used oat milk)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 onion (optional)
• Large handful of spinach
• large handful of cooked sweetcorn and peas
• Grated cheese (dairy free or cheddar or parmesan, grated)

What you need to do:

• Start by placing your diced potatoes onto a baking tray with some olive oil and salt and then bake these in the oven at 180C for around 35 minutes.
• Meanwhile heat your milk in a large saucepan with the peppercorns, bay leaves and chopped onion.
• Once the milk has come up to a simmer, lower the heat and add your smoked haddock fillets and gently poach for around 5-6 minutes until it’s cooked through.
• Next grab yourself a mixing bowl and add your spinach, prawns and your hard boiled eggs and then with a slotted spoon take the smoked haddock out of the milk and then flake into the mixing bowl. KEEP THE POACHING LIQUID
• Now it’s time to make your white sauce. Start by melting 1 tbsp butter into a saucepan.
• Once melted add 1 tbsp plain flour and 1 tsp mustard powder and stir thoroughly. Cook this out for a few minutes.
• Next you need to very slowly add your milk while continuously stirring so to as avoid any lumps. Add in enough milk to make a creamy sauce to coat the back of a wooden spoon. You’ll probably need around 200/250mlml or the milk.
• One the sauce is ready simply pour this into the mixing bowl with the fish, season and stir,
• Now add your peas and sweetcorn to the bottom of your ramekins then add the fish mixture and then top with your crispy potatoes.
• Finally add some grated cheese and then place into the oven for 20 minutes for the cheese to melt and the pie to heat through. If you’re chilling these in the fridge before finishing off then you’ll need to increase the cooking time to around 40 minutes.
• Serve with some broccoli!

Enjoy!

xx