Salmon Fish Pie Recipe – Carina Contini
Ingredients
- 1kg cod and salmon fillet
- 250g broccoli florets or any of your favourite greens
- 1kg Maris Piper potatoes
- 200g grated Mull Cheddar
- 1 litre full fat milk
- 1 small onion, peeled and cut in half
- 3 cloves
- 1 bay leaf, broken in half
- 125g unsalted butter
- 1tbsp plain flour
- 1tsp salt
- White pepper, to season
Method
- Blanch the greens in boiling salted water for 3-4 minutes. Drain and refresh under cold water, then drain completely.
- Put the milk in a pan. Add the onion, cloves and bay leaves and bring to a simmer.
- Place the fish into the simmering milk, bring to the boil then remove the pot from the heat. Leave the fish to poach for 5 minutes.
- Place greens in a shallow baking dish. Season with salt and white pepper.
- Carefully lift the poached fish from the milk and place on top of the greens.
- Strain the milk to remove the onion and spices.
- Make the sauce. Choose a medium sized saucepan, melt the butter and add the flour. Cook for about 3 minutes until it bubbles. Stir constantly. Add salt and pepper.
- Slowly add about ¾ of the strained milk and beat with a metal whisk to prevent lumps.
- When the sauce starts to thicken, add half the cheese and check seasoning.
- Pour the sauce over the fish and greens.
- Pipe or spoon the mashed potatoes on top of the sauce. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the potatoes and bake in a hot oven, 190°C, gas mark 6, for 30 minutes until the potato is golden and crispy.
No depression or old tins, but running water? Most definitely!
Carina Contini
IF I’M HONEST, we all have low days. Depression in hospitality is well reported; long hours, disruptive sleeping patterns, a high pressure environment… not a pretty picture.
And not washing. I was brought up in a family that had a bath once a week and I shared the water after my two sisters. However, recently I’ve felt guilty over the vast amounts of water I use in the kitchen.
If you cook vegetables from scratch, or grow your own produce, you’ll inevitably find yourself in the sink not just for the washing-up but for the preparation.
I’m conscious of the amount of time the tap is left running while I’m peeling the carrots – guilty! Meat does not require washing, but from potatoes to parsley, and spinach to strawberries – it all needs washed. There’s nothing worse than gritty greens.
“I’m conscious of the amount of time the tap is left running while I’m peeling the carrots – guilty!”
Even those pre-washed bags of salad should always be washed prior to consumption. I often leave a large bowl in the sink and soak my greens in one or two changes of water. That way, it’s very easy to see if there are any unwanted friends – or worst of all, grit! I hate with a vengeance gritty greens.
The restaurant environmental health rules insist we use tablets to sanitise all our salads and raw fruits and vegetables. Sanitise – what a word, but a necessary one.
At home a little salt will do the job if copious amounts of water are draining your kitchen conscience.
As for old tins at the back of the larder, fortunately my husband, Victor, is an absolute expert at stock rotation!
Top Tip:
We are constantly told we’re not supposed to eat farmed salmon as the environmental damage is tangible. Our farmed fishing industry disputes this.
We are now in wild salmon season, but as wild salmon is super expensive, how about a mix of salmon and cod to keep everyone happy?
Make sure to prepare the fish by cutting the central spine to help remove any bones.
Find out more at www.contini.com
See more of Carina’s recipes for us here and discover a new one each month in
The Scots Magazine
