English fish pie

The British call this dish a pie, but if you look closely, it is a real casserole. But what a! Under a layer of mashed potatoes, there is a delicate core of fresh and smoked fish, covered with a thick aromatic sauce. This recipe uses peas and boiled eggs to add texture to the filling.

Ingredients

• 400 g fish fillet with firm pulp (sea bass, cod, haddock, trout)
• 400 g smoked fish fillet (cod, haddock, pink salmon, trout)
• 750 ml milk
• 1 onion
• 4 cloves
• 1 cup frozen green peas
• 4 hard boiled eggs
• 30 g butter
• 1/4 cup grated cheese
• For mashed potatoes:
• 750 g potatoes
• 30 g butter
• 125 ml milk
• salt, freshly ground black pepper
• For the sauce:
• 50 g butter
• 50 g flour
• 1 small onion
• 1 small carrot
• 1 small celery stalk
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 3 sprigs of tarragon
• 4 sprigs of parsley
• salt, freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Press the cloves into the onion, place in a wide saucepan. Pour in milk and bring to a boil. Add fresh and smoked fish and cook for 7 minutes. Transfer the fillets to a plate with a slotted spoon, remove the onion and cloves, save the milk for the sauce.
2. Disassemble the fish into small pieces.
3. Peel the potatoes and cut into large cubes, boil in salted boiling water until tender.
4. While the potatoes are cooking, prepare the sauce. Peel the onions, garlic and carrots. Grate the carrots on a fine grater, cut the onion, garlic and celery into small cubes. Chop parsley and tarragon leaves finely.
5. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Then add the celery and carrots and cook for 5-7 minutes, until the carrots are tender. Add flour, stir and add milk in portions, stirring the sauce constantly. Cook for 2-3 minutes, until thickened. Remove from heat, add tarragon and parsley, season with salt and pepper.
6. Preheat oven to 180 ° C. Oil a ceramic pan. Arrange the fish and peas slices, pour over the sauce and smooth the surface. Cut the eggs into wedges and place on the sauce.
7. Drain and mash potatoes, add butter, warm milk, salt and pepper, mix well. Spoon the hot mashed potatoes and flatten the surface with a fork. Melt 30 g butter and pour over the pie, sprinkle with cheese.
8. Place in oven and bake 35 minutes, until golden brown. Remove the finished cake from the oven and leave for 10 minutes, then serve.