A fish pie is the ultimate winter comfort food. I’ve experimented with a few different recipes over the year, some of which really overcomplicate things with mixed results. I think I have come up with the perfect one – it’s very simple to make, doesn’t require masses of ingredients, yet tastes rich and creamy at the same time (and has a bit of a kick to it!).

The choice of fish and seafood I’ve mentioned in the ingredients is a suggestion, feel free to substitute these with your preferred fish. You could include squid for example, or any other types of fish fillet.

Ingredients:
Serves 4
Prep time: 30 minutes

• 450ml fish stock (chicken or vegetable stock will also do)
• 300g fish fillets, cubed (I use a combination of salmon, smoked haddock and cod)
• 100g scallops
• 200g raw prawns, peeled
• 100ml white wine
• 150ml whole milk
• 100ml double cream
• 50g butter
• Dash of olive oil
• 2 leeks, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 50g plain flour
• handful of fresh parsley, roughly chopped
• 200g potatoes
• 80g cheddar cheese, grated
• salt and pepper

Method:

1. Peel your potatoes and parboil them (roughly for 10 minutes and drain once complete). You don’t want them to cook through completely, they need to still be firm.
2. Bring your stock to boil, and add your fish fillets for 1-2 minutes, until cooked through. Remove with a slotted spoon and place in your pie dish. Repeat with your scallops and prawns for 1 minute. Don’t overcook them, your fish will continue to cook whilst in the pie in the oven. Season your fish with salt and pepper.
3. Add your wine, double cream and milk to the stock mixture and leave to simmer.
4. Add the butter to a frying pan on a low heat then add your leeks. You can add a dash of olive oil to prevent the butter from burning. Add your garlic, some salt and pepper and leave to cook for 4-5 minutes. The leeks should be soft and buttery but not browned.
5. Turn the heat to medium-high and cover the leeks with the flour. Cook for 2-3 minutes.
6. Start slowly adding your stock/cream/milk/wine mixture to the leeks and stir continuously as you do. Once you’ve added the whole mixture, leave to simmer for 2-3 minutes and then add half of your parsley to the mixture.
7. Pour your creamy leek sauce over your fish in the pie dish.
8. Slice your potatoes and position on top of the fish mixture, then season with salt, pepper and the rest of the parsley.
9. Cook on 180C for 30 minutes. Remove, scatter your cheese on top and cook for another 15 minutes until the cheese is melted and golden brown.