Cooking

INGREDIENTS

• 25g plain flour
• 50g unsalted butter
• 400ml warm milk
• 4 spring onions, finely sliced
• 400g mixed fish – eg 100g diced salmon, 100g diced cod, 100g diced smoked haddock, 100g tiger prawns
• 10g English or Dijon mustard
• 100g peas
• 5g chopped fresh dill
• Sea salt
• Fresh ground white pepper
• 1 egg yolk with a pinch of salt (eggwash)
• Puff pastry (store bought or home made)
• Optional fennel seeds, poppy seeds and sesame seeds

METHOD

• Make the sauce: In a heavy-based saucepan, melt the butter, add the spring onion and cook until tender. Stir in the flour, cook gently for 5 minutes stirring constantly. Gradually add the warm milk using a whisk to create a smooth sauce. Add the mustard and season with salt and pepper (go easy on the salt if using smoked haddock as it has been salted before smoking). Chill the sauce down before the next step.
• Assembling the pie: Mix together the fish, peas, chilled sauce and dill in an ovenproof dish. Roll out the pastry allowing for the gap between the pie mix and the top of the dish. Eggwash the edge of the dish and place the pastry on top of the pie mix then crimp with your thumb and forefingers. Trim off any pastry from around the edge. Eggwash the top of the pie then sprinkle with sea salt and pepper. Sprinkle the optional Fennel, poppy and sesame seeds. Leave to rest in the fridge for at least one hour before cooking.
• Cooking the pie: Pre-heat your oven to 175 C. Bake the pie for at least 35 to 40 minutes, turning the oven down if the pastry starts to get too brown. The core temperature will need to be at least 75 C. Once cooked, allow to cool slightly before serving.