Serving size: Serves 4
Cuisine type: Traditional
Cooking time: More than 1 hour
Special options: Egg free, Kid friendly, Nut free
Course: Main
Favourite flavours: Seafood

fish pie

From the August 2006 issue of Australian House and Garden magazine. Subscribe here.

INGREDIENTS

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, sliced
80g thickly sliced bacon, coarsely chopped
1 large leek, cleaned, cut into 2cm-thick slices
500g boneless thick white fish fillets, such as ling or blue eye, cut into bite-sized chunks
125g smoked salmon, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 punnet cherry tomatoes, halved

Veloute sauce:
25g unsalted butter
25g plain flour
¾ cup (185ml) light stock, such as fish, veal or chicken
1/3 cup (80ml) sour cream
¼ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

Potato topping:
1 kg potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
50g unsalted butter, plus extra shavings for the top
100ml milk

METHOD

Combine oil, onion, bacon and leek in a pan and cook over moderate heat for 10 minutes or until golden, stirring frequently.

To make the veloute sauce, melt the butter in a pan, add the flour, and cook over moderately low heat for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add the stock. Bring slowly to a simmer and cook over low heat for 5 minutes,
stirring frequently, then stir in the sour cream. Simmer for 5 minutes. Season with salt, pepper and parsley.

Place the fish fillets and smoked salmon in a lightly oiled baking dish and season with salt and pepper. Add the tomatoes. Spoon the onion, bacon and leek mixture on top and cover with the veloute sauce.

Place a baking sheet in the oven and preheat the oven to 190°C (170°C fan).

Boil the potatoes in salted water until tender. Drain, mash with butter and milk, season and spread on top of dish.

Scatter extra butter shavings on top and bake for 40 minutes. Stand for 5 minutes before serving.