Florentine fish pie with smashed potato and chives
Serves: 6
Prep time: 45 minsTotal time: 
Recipe photograph by Toby Scott
Florentine fish pie with smashed potato and chives
Serves: 6
Prep time: 45 minsTotal time: 
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Nutritional information (per serving)
Calories
660Kcal
Fat
32gr
Saturates
18gr
Carbs
40gr
Sugars
6gr
Fibre
4gr
Protein
49gr
Salt
1.3gr
Sarah Randell
Our former Food Director, and previously food editor to Delia Smith, Sarah has written more than 1000 recipes for the magazine. She is also author of Family Baking and Marmalade; A Bittersweet Cookbook among others.
Sarah Randell
Our former Food Director, and previously food editor to Delia Smith, Sarah has written more than 1000 recipes for the magazine. She is also author of Family Baking and Marmalade; A Bittersweet Cookbook among others.
Ingredients
- 1kg skinless and boneless cod loin fillet
- 2 bay leaves
- a few peppercorns
- 100ml white wine
- 500ml milk
- 25g butter
- 1 x 250g pack chestnut mushrooms, sliced
- 1 x 225g pack raw jumbo king prawns, defrosted and patted dry
- 1 x 100g pack baby leaf spinach
- 2 tbsp chopped chives
- 1 tbsp capers
For the sauce
- 75g butter
- 75g plain flour
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 3 tbsp double cream
- 100g Gruyère, grated
- freshly grated nutmeg
For the topping
- 1kg small salad or baby new potatoes
- 3 tbsp chopped chives
- 2 tbsp olive oil
Step by step
Get ahead
If making ahead, prepare up to the end of step 6 but allow the sauce to cool completely before mixing with the fish and other ingredients. Transfer to the ovenproof dish, top with the cooled potato, then cover and chill for up to 24 hours. Bring to room temperature before baking.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C, fan 160°C, gas 4. Put the cod into an ovenproof dish that has a capacity of about 2.5 litres. Add the bay leaves, peppercorns, wine and milk. Cover the dish with foil and bake in the oven for 20 minutes, then leave the fish to cool in the liquid (you can turn the oven off at this point).
- Meanwhile, for the topping, tip the potatoes into a saucepan, add a generous pinch of salt and boiling water to just cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until tender. Drain, then transfer to a mixing bowl and 'smash' them with the back of a fork into small pieces. Add the chives, olive oil and some salt and pepper and mix together, then set aside in a bowl.
-
Rinse out the potato pan, then melt the 25g of butter in it and sauté the mushrooms for 8-10 minutes until lightly golden. Tip the mushrooms into a bowl. Rinse out the pan again.TipAll this dish needs on the side is a bowl of seasonal greens or the ultimate accompaniment to any fish pie – buttered peas
- Using a fish slice, transfer the just-cooked fish to a large mixing bowl and break it into chunks, you can discard the bay leaves and peppercorns but reserve the cooking liquid. Wash and dry the dish that the fish was cooked in.
- Next, for the sauce, melt the 75g of butter in the pan, stir in the flour and cook over the heat for a minute or so, stirring all the time, then mix in the mustard. Now, over a low heat and using a ladle, add the fishy cooking liquid, little by little, to the flour, stirring after each addition until all the liquid is completely incorporated. Add the cream, then whisk the sauce over the heat until thickened. Take the pan off the heat and stir in the grated Gruyère. Season with a generous grating of nutmeg and salt and pepper.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C, fan 180°C, gas 6. Gently mix the sauce into the fish, adding the prawns, spinach, chives, capers and cooked mushrooms, too, draining any excess liquid from the mushrooms before you add them.
- Tip the mix into the ovenproof dish, packing it down, and spoon the potato topping on top. Transfer the dish to a baking tray and bake the pie for 45-50 minutes or until bubbling and golden.
