Italian Fish Pie Recipes

FISH PIE

Steps:

• Push a clove into the skin of each onion. Place in a pot or large skillet, add milk, turn stove onto medium high heat.
• When milk is barely simmering, add fish - don't worry if it's not entirely covered, it can be turned / moved around.
• Poach fish for 7 minutes, then use a slotted spoon to transfer fish straight into a medium baking dish (Note 8).
• Flake into chunks using forks. Remove bones if you see any.
• Use slotted spoon to remove onion and cloves from milk, discard. RESERVE milk.
• Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Boil water for potatoes.
• Melt butter in a large, deep skillet or pot over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic, cook for 1 minute. Then add celery and carrot, cook for 5 minutes until carrot is soft.
• Turn heat down to medium low. Add flour, mix in - it will look gluey.
• Add half the milk and quickly start mixing. Once incorporated, the mixture will thicken quickly. Add remaining milk and stir. (Video helpful here)
• Turn heat up to medium and keep stirring until the mixture thickens to the consistency of honey - about 3 minutes. (Note 7)
• Take it off the heat, stir through tarragon and parsley. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.
• Scatter top of flaked fish with peas, then pour over the Sauce. GENTLY stir through (don't want fish to turn into mush!).*
• Smooth top, then nestle egg in all over the pie.
• Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Add potatoes and cook for 15 minutes or until soft. (Do this while making the Sauce).
• Drain potato, add butter, milk, salt and pepper. Mash until creamy - add more milk if required.
• Immediately dollop then spread onto pie (cold mash = hard to spread).
• Use fork to draw squiggles on surface (rough surface = better golden bits).
• Drizzle surface with melted butter, sprinkle with parmesan.
• Bake for 35 minutes or until top is deep golden.
• Stand for 5 minutes before serving, garnished with parsley if desired. See notes for reheating and make ahead.

FEAST OF THE SEVEN FISHES PIE

Steps:

• Butter a shallow 1 1/2-quart baking dish or casserole. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat, then stir in leeks and 1 teaspoon salt, and cook until soft, stirring frequently, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in garlic and anchovies and cook 1 minute, until the anchovies dissolve. Add wine and bring to a boil, then let simmer until the wine evaporates almost completely. Remove from heat and scrape into a heatproof bowl.
• In the same skillet, melt remaining 4 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Whisk in flour and cook until pale golden, 1 to 3 minutes. Slowly whisk in chicken stock and clam juice, and bring to a simmer, whisking constantly. Simmer for 1 to 3 minutes until very thick (it will thin out as it bakes), then remove from heat.
• Pat the fish cubes, shrimp and scallops dry. Stir them into the sauce along with the sautéed leeks, peas, tarragon, parsley, capers and remaining 1 teaspoon salt. Spoon mixture into prepared dish.
• Chill uncovered, for at least 1 hour, and up to overnight.
• Before baking, heat oven to 425 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together egg with 1 teaspoon water. On a lightly floured surface, unroll pastry dough. Roll it 1/8-inch thick. Use a fish cutter or paring knife to cut out a fish from the center of dough. (Alternatively, you can cut circles from the dough and overlap them on top of the pie to look like fish scales).
• Place pastry on top of pie and trim edges, but don't seal them (sealing impinges on the puffing). Brush egg wash all over pastry.
• Place pie on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until crust is golden, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 to 10 minutes before serving. If you like, spoon the sour cream into a shallow dish, top it with the trout roe and serve it on the side for guests to add to the pie. Or spoon the caviar into the fish cutout on top of the pie and serve sour cream on the side.