Fish, Main Comments are Disabled

Easy fish pie with smoked basa and prawns recipe

Cooks in 45 minutes Difficulty Easy
Filo pastry topped fish pie with smoked basa, prawns and a spinach and watercress salad on a plate next to a pie dish.

Introduction

This easy fish pie recipe is a really satisfying, lighter alternative to a traditional fish pie with a mashed potato topping. The shop-bought filo pastry top is a real time saver, simply remove from the packet, scrunch it up, and drizzle it with olive oil. Compared with shortcrust or puff pastry, filo is really low calorie and low carb, so you can enjoy this meal as part of a healthy, balanced diet. 

Tips and tricks

  • If using frozen basa, add 5 minutes to the poaching time.
  • Keep an eye on your pie as filo pastry browns quickly. If it starts to burn, place a sheet of kitchen foil over the pie for the remainder of the cooking time.

Serving suggestions

This fish pie is delicious served with buttery new potatoes or creamy mash and seasonal greens such as Tenderstem broccoli, asparagus, or cavolo nero.

Storage and Reheating

To reheat the pie, preheat the oven to 180 degrees, cover with tin foil and heat for 20-25 minutes or until the filling is piping hot.

If you use a glass Pyrex dish you’ll know it’s hot enough when the filling is bubbling. If you do not cover it with tin foil, your pastry will likely burn on the second bake. 

You can also microwave a portion for 2 minutes 30 seconds, but be aware that the pastry will not be as crispy as it would be if you reheat it in the oven. 

Cover and store the pie in the fridge, and consume within 2-3 days.

Easy fish pie with smoked basa and prawns
Print

Easy fish pie with smoked basa and prawns

Recipe by Holly PenhaleCourse: Dinner, LunchCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy
Servings

4

servings
Prep time

30

minutes
Cooking time

15

minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 x 120g smoked basa fillets

  • 170g raw frozen prawns

  • 125g filo pastry

  • 1 leek

  • 2 cloves garlic

  • 150g frozen peas

  • 1 tbsp Dijon mustard

  • 1 tbsp capers

  • 15g flat-leaf parsley

  • 300ml milk

  • 30g flour

  • 40g butter

Directions

  • Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
  • Place the smoked basa fillets into a flat oven-proof dish, with the capers about 1.5cm of milk. Season the fillets with salt and pepper. Cover the dish with foil and allow the poach in the oven for 15 minutes or until just cooked through.
  • Trim the leek and remove the tougher green part from the end. Cut in half lengthways and then chop each side into half moons around ½ a cm in width.
  • Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a pan on a medium heat and in the garlic and leek. Allow to cook for about 7-10 minutes, or until softened but not coloured.
  • Remove the basa from the oven and strain the fish and capers from the milk and place to one side, reserving the poaching liquid in a jug for later.
  • In a medium-sized saucepan, place 100g of butter on medium heat until melted before gradually sifting in 80g of flour and stirring continuously until it forms a roux.
  • Bit by bit, gradually add the poaching milk you reserved from cooking the basa stirring all the time until the roux has turned into a milky sauce with no lumps. If the sauce is too thick, let it down with a little more milk. Bring to the boil before reducing to a simmer.
  • Once thickened, add in the chopped parsley and a tablespoon of dijon mustard. Taste and season if needed.
  • Add your frozen peas into the pan with the leek and garlic before pouring in the sauce and mixing until well combined.
  • Gently fold in the basa, capers, and frozen prawns being careful not to break apart the basa too much. You want some big chunks of fish to remain.
  • The temperature of the pie mix will have dropped due to the frozen peas and prawns. Leave the pan on the heat for 3-5 minutes until the mix is warm through but the prawns are not yet cooked. Transfer the pie mix to a deep-sided casserole dish.
  • Take a sheet of filo pastry and tear it roughly in half. Scrunch it up in your hand as you would a piece of paper and place it gently on top of the pie mixture. Repeat this process until the surface of your pie is covered in scrunched-up sheets of filo.
  • Drizzle the top of your pie with a little olive oil before placing it onto the middle shelf of your oven to bake for 15-20 minutes.
  • Serve with your choice of steamed greens or salad.

Notes

  • If using frozen basa, add 5 minutes to the poaching time.
  • Keep an eye on your pie as filo pastry browns quickly. If it starts to burn, place a sheet of kitchen foil over the pie for the remainder of the cooking time.

Tags

Comments are closed.