The ultimate comfort food, but also light; this recipe manages to be creamy and filling without you having to take a nap afterwards, which can be the case with heavier meat dishes,” says Trine Hahnemann, author of Simply Scandinavian.
“It can be made with any fish, or also with the same weight of vegetables instead. This kind of pie will always do it for me when I’m in need of energy and comfort.”
Fish pie
Serves: 6
Ingredients:
800g large potatoes, chopped into big chunks
100g salted butter, plus 3 tbsp, plus more for the dish
500g firm white fish fillet, chopped into small pieces
300g raw prawns, sustainably caught
10 white asparagus spears
10 green asparagus spears
2 shallots, finely chopped
200g shelled fresh peas
5 dill sprigs, chopped
Sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper
Leaves from 2-3 sprigs of flat-leaf parsley, chopped, to serve (optional)
Method:
1. Boil the potatoes in water until tender.
2. Butter a large ovenproof dish generously, then add the chopped fish and prawns in an even layer. Season with salt.
3. Snap the lower one-third of the white and green asparagus off, then peel the white asparagus until shiny and cut all the asparagus spears into four-centimetre pieces. (The trimmings and peelings can be used in soup). Fry the shallots gently in a frying pan in one tablespoon of butter. Turn off the heat, add the asparagus, peas and dill, mix well and season with salt and pepper. Arrange the vegetable mixture on top of the fish.
4. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6. When the potatoes are cooked, drain them, reserving 100 millilitres of their cooking water. Mash the potatoes lightly together with the reserved cooking water and the 100 grams of butter, keeping the mash chunky. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then spread the mash over the pie filling and place the remaining two tablespoons of butter, in small dots, on top.
5. Bake for 30 minutes. Let it rest for a few minutes, then scatter with parsley and serve.
‘Simply Scandinavian’ by Trine Hahnemann (Quadrille, £27).
