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Mary Berry Fish Pie with Prawns Recipe

Mary Berry Fish Pie with Prawns Recipe

Mary Berry's fish pie with prawns has a rich, creamy sauce, mixed fish and prawns, and a golden mashed potato top.
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Prep Time 35 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Servings: 6 Portions
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: British
Calories: 570
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • Fish Filling:
  • 400 g skinless cod or haddock in large chunks
  • 300 g skinless smoked haddock in large chunks
  • 200 g large raw prawns peeled and deveined
  • 600 ml whole milk
  • 1 bay leaf 6 peppercorns, 1 small onion halved
  • Cream Sauce:
  • 60 g unsalted butter
  • 60 g plain flour
  • Strained poaching milk approximately 550ml
  • 100 ml double cream
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 2 hard-boiled eggs roughly chopped (optional)
  • 3 tbsp fresh parsley chopped
  • Salt and pepper
  • Mashed Potato Top:
  • 1.2 kg floury potatoes peeled and chopped
  • 75 g unsalted butter
  • 100 ml warm whole milk or cream
  • Salt and white pepper
  • 25 g Cheddar or Parmesan grated

Method
 

  1. Poach white fish and smoked haddock in milk with bay leaf, peppercorns, and onion — 5–6 minutes until just beginning to flake. Lift out carefully. Strain and reserve all the poaching milk.
  2. Boil potatoes until tender — about 20 minutes. Drain. Dry over low heat 1 minute. Rice or mash until smooth. Beat in butter and warm milk. Season generously.
  3. Melt butter. Add flour — stir 2 minutes. Add warm poaching milk gradually, whisking. Add cream and mustard. Simmer 5 minutes until thickened. Remove from heat. Add parsley and seasoning.
  4. Preheat oven to 200°C / 180°C fan / Gas 6. Fold poached fish, raw prawns, and hard-boiled eggs if using into sauce gently. Season. Pour into ovenproof dish. Cool 10 minutes.
  5. Spoon mash over filling. Spread to edges. Fork into ridges. Scatter grated cheese.
  6. Bake 30–35 minutes until golden and bubbling at edges. Rest 5 minutes. Serve.

Notes

Poach fish in the milk first — the flavoured milk makes the sauce extraordinary.
Use raw prawns — cooked prawns become tough after 30 minutes in the oven.
Drive excess moisture from mash before using — wet mash slides off the filling.
Cool filling slightly before adding mash — boiling filling melts the butter in the mash.
Ridge the mash surface with a fork — ridges brown more attractively than smooth.
Freeze assembled unbaked pie for up to 2 months.
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