my summer fish pie

 Inspired by a Jamie Oliver lighter version of the fish pie, I decided to experiment in the kitchen today. Did not know what to expect since this was my very first attempt to bake a savoury pie with no puff pastry, but judging by mr D’s face I’d say the experiment went well!   From the originally recipe I preferred to ditch the onions (I believe it overwhelms the fish’s flavour), and double cream (too many calories!)  And since I had some vegetarian curry leftovers I soaked the fish in that rather than the milk. Feeling inspired? Here’s my recipe for 4-6 serves. I like to cook in bulk so I can stack the freezer for those lazy days…

 sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
 1kg potatoes
 1 carrot 
 2 sticks of celery
 150g good Cheddar cheese
 1 lemon
 ½ a fresh red chilli
 4 sprigs of fresh flat-leaf parsley 
 300g cole fillets, skin off and bones removed
 300g smoked haddock fillets, skin off and bones removed
  olive oil
 a good handful of spinach, chopped
 a couple of ripe tomatoes, quartered

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6 and bring a large pan of salted water to the boil 
Peel the potatoes and cut into 2cm chunks. Once the water is boiling, add your potatoes and cook for around 12 minutes, until soft.  Meanwhile, get yourself a deep baking tray or earthenware dish and stand a box grater in it. Peel the carrot and grate the celery, carrot and Cheddar on the coarse side of the grater. Also, grate the zest from the lemon and finely grate or chop your chilli. Finely chop the parsley leaves and stalks and add these to the tray. Cut the salmon and smoked haddock into bite-size chunks and add to the tray (I soaked them in curry sauce) Squeeze over the juice from the zested lemon, drizzle with olive oil and add a good pinch of salt and pepper. Add spinach and tomatoes and mix everything together really well.  By now your potatoes should be cooked, so drain them in a colander and return them to the pan. Drizzle with a couple of good lugs of olive oil and add a pinch of salt and pepper and mash until nice and smooth, then spread evenly over the top of the fish and grated veg. Place in the preheated oven for around 40 minutes, or until cooked through, crispy and golden on top.