Fish Pie Recipe - From The Billingsgate Market Cookbook  Add/Read Comments

Receiving a copy of the - rather excellent - Billingsgate Market Cookbook is bound to change this sorry state of affairs. The reason for fish being absent from the weekly shopping basket is simple - I really don't know what to do with them! Wrapping a trout or mackrel in tin foil is about as far as my culinary skills take me. The cookbook - complete with instructions on how to prepare fish - offers a host of recipes for about every type of fish availble in the UK. If you can't find one type of fish they offer suggestions for a suitable replacement.

The local butcher has a small fish counter and Waitrose isnt too bad either but the place to buy fish in Oxfordsure has to be the fish shop in Oxford's covered market; I can't recommend it highly enough. Frozen pollack from Waitrose is the base for this dish however. It's cheap, being part of their Essentials range, but coupled with the addition of a few large, juicy prawns made for a lovely, rich dish. Boiled eggs, having eaten the last, scrambled, for that mornings breakfast, were omitted.

The Recipe:

Billingsgate School Fish Pie (serves 6)

• 450g white fish fillets such as coley, hake or Pollack


• 900ml semi-skimmed milk


• 1 bay leaf


• 90g butter


• 1 finely diced leek


• 90g plain flour


• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper


• ¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg


• ½ teaspoon dired English mustard


• 3 hard boiled eggs, quartered


• 2 tablespoons chopped dill


• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley


• Salt and pepper

For the mashed potato topping

• 1kg King Edward potatoes


• 25g butter


• 120-150ml hot milk


• Salt and pepper


• 1-2 tablespoons grated Cheddar Cheese

Preheat oven to 190C/375F/G5.

Bring the fish and the bay leaf in the milk to the boil and poach over low heat for 5 minutes or so until cooked. Strain the milk into a jog and set aside. Remove skin and bones from fish.

Cook the leek in the melted butter until soft. Stir in the flour, cayenne pepper, nutmeg and mustard and cook for further minute. Blend in the reserved milk, bring to the boil stirring continuously simmer for 2-3 minutes. Should be nice and smooth. Add the eggs, herbs and fish, season. Pour into a large ovenproof pie dish.

Prepare the topping: cook potatoes until tender. Drain and allow to dry for a minute or two. Mash with butter and some hot milk. Season. Spoon over the fish. Sprinkle with cheese.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until the topping is golden brown and the pie hot and bubbling.