Fish Pie

By Nigella Lawson

Fish Pie
Craig Lee for The New York Times
Total Time
1 hour
Rating
4(473)
Comments
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To the uninitiated, fish pie has an uninviting name and reputation. But this is fish that is gently poached, then swathed in a white sauce and topped with buttery mashed potatoes and finished to a heat-bronzed finish in the oven. It is a dish good for children but can be made into unapologetic dinner-party fare by poaching the fish in a little white wine, making the white sauce with light cream rather than milk and infusing all of it with the eggy-lemony kiss of saffron. It’s an hour well worth spending.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings
  • 1medium carrot, peeled and quartered lengthwise
  • ½cup white wine
  • Large pinch salt
  • 1bouquet garni (bay leaf, fresh thyme, parsley, celery and leek, tied together in cheesecloth)
  • 2pounds baking potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
  • 8tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for greasing pan
  • ½ to 1teaspoon of salt, to taste
  • 8ounces skinless cod fillets
  • 8ounces skinless haddock fillets
  • 8ounces skinless salmon fillets
  • ½teaspoon powdered saffron or ½ teaspoon saffron threads steeped in 1 tablespoon boiling water
  • 1cup light cream (or a combination of half and half and heavy cream) or as needed
  • ¼cup all-purpose flour
  • Pinch of mace
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • 5ounces cooked, peeled shrimp
  • Freshly grated nutmeg
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

862 calories; 50 grams fat; 28 grams saturated fat; 1 gram trans fat; 14 grams monounsaturated fat; 4 grams polyunsaturated fat; 53 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams dietary fiber; 4 grams sugars; 46 grams protein; 1341 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    In a deep covered skillet, combine carrot, wine, salt, bouquet garni and ½ cup water. Bring to a boil, turn off heat and set aside.

  2. Step 2

    Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil, and add potatoes. Cook until soft, and mash (preferably with a potato ricer) with 6 tablespoons butter and the salt. Cover and set aside.

  3. Step 3

    Heat oven to 375 degrees. Put cod and haddock into skillet with carrot, cover, and bring to a simmer. Poach for 3 minutes. Transfer fish to a plate, and add salmon to skillet. Poach for 3 minutes, and transfer salmon to plate with cod and haddock. Discard carrot and reserve bouquet garni. Strain liquid into a measuring cup, add saffron and add enough cream to make 2 cups liquid.

  4. Step 4

    Place a saucepan over low heat, and melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Stir in flour and mace. Stir for a few minutes; remove pan from heat. Slowly stir in cream mixture, beating until smooth. Return pan to heat and add reserved bouquet garni. Stir until mixture is thickened, about 5 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.

  5. Step 5

    Butter a 9-inch-square baking pan, and distribute cooked fish evenly, breaking into large chunks as necessary. Scatter shrimp evenly in pan. Discard bouquet garni, and pour sauce over all.

  6. Step 6

    Spread mashed potato evenly over top, covering edges so sauce will not bubble over. Sprinkle nutmeg lightly over top of pie, and place pan on a baking sheet. Bake until filling is hot and potatoes are flecked with gold, 20 to 40 minutes. Serve hot.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
473 user ratings
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Comments

Sif

Sautéed leeks, fennel, and fennel fronds in butter and made them into a bottom layer in the pie. Better mashed potatoes: added parsnips, cheddar, and buttermilk to golden potatoes for a richer and more flavorful pie lid. Absolutely delicious with modifications. Will definitely make this again.

Meredith

Made this for a Danish-themed dinner party and it was a huge hit with my foodie friends. Remember to liberally salt the potato water, season as you go, and you'll have no problems with "blandness." Instead of just using a leek in the poaching liquid, I diced one up and sautéed it in the butter for the roux to add a mild oniony flavor to the sauce.
Another win for Nigella

Lucy O

Needs significantly more seasoning than recipe calls for. But with that, it's really good. Assembled it in advance and popped it in the oven 30-40 minutes before we were ready to eat.

T

Lovely, but I do agree on needing smoked fish. Also, no fish pie without a generous topping of cheddar, in my opinion.

Jim C

I made it exactly as instructed. However, if I make it again I definitely will not spend all the time poaching each fish before the baking step. The fish will cook perfectly fine in the oven without all the complicated and time consuming poaching. But I probably won't make it again because it was extremely bland.

Robin

Not to be underestimated. Luscious and worthy of a dinner party. I made the mash with a mixture of potatoes, parsnips and carrots plus garlic of course. Also grated some Parmesan into the sauce. A winner

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