Fish Pie

Whilst planning out our weekly meal planner - before we go to the supermarket, me and Kenny decided we fancy eating more fish, and maybe one night have something different than rice.  So this fish pie recipe (from channel4.com delicious magazine) caught my eye - so wrote it in for this week.
So today here my kitchen adventure - of another comforting food, and very popular english dish. 

Serves 4
Time: 40mins to make, 30 mins to bake

Ingredients:

1.25kg potatoes, cut into even-sized pieces
50g Butter
Small bag of fresh baby spinach
2 shallots, very finely chopped
2 bay leaves
Splash of extra virgin olive oil
284ml carton double cream
125g Parmesan (i used Cheddar)
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 handful of flatleaf parsley, roughly chopped ( i used dried parsley)
450g cod/haddock fillet, skinned and boned (i used a fish pie mix from supermarket - great!)
250g large shelled tiger prawns (i used cooked small prawns)

Method

1) Pre-heat the oven to 200C/gas 6. Cook the potatoes in boiling, salted water for 10-12minutes until tender. Drain well and return to the pan over the heat ad dry out for about 1 minute, shaking the pan well. Mash with plenty of seasoning and half the butter and put aside
2)Meanwhile, wash the spinach and cook it in a clean pan with just the water that clings to the leaves until just wilted. Then drain well and squeeze out any excess moisture.
3)In a separate pan, gently cook the shallots and bay leaves in the oil for 6-8minutes until softened. Add cream and bring just to the boil. Remove from the heat. Stir in the Parmesan, lemon juice and parsley.
4)Cut the fish into bite-sized pieces (omit this if you like me bought a fish pie mix already chopped in pieces), put it into a buttered 1.8 litres ovenproof dish with the prawns. Break up the spinach with a knife and toss together with the fish. Remove the bay leaves from the sauce and pour into the dish, shaking it so it all distributes evenly. Spoon over the mash and dot with the remaining butter. Put on a tray and bake for 25-30minutes, until golden brown and bubbling.

Tip: You can use any firm white fish, unsmoked or smoked. If you want you can also add a handful of clams or mussels - be a good treat!

Happy Cooking!