Fish pie with rosti & gruyère topping
A proper fish pie should have a mixture of fish, plus boiled eggs and capers, all smothered in a béchamel sauce and topped with mash. Here the mash is a mix of root vegetables swirled into a cheesy, buttery rosti.
Serves 4
500ml full fat milk 1 onion, halved 1 bay leaf 50g butter 50g plain flour 1 medium potato, peeled and quartered Half a swede, peeled and quartered 1 large carrot, peeled 50g butter, melted 50g gruyère, grated 400g fish pie mix (such as salmon, smoked haddock and cod) 2 eggs, hard boiled, peeled and quartered 1 tbsp capers
1 Preheat oven to 200C/Fan 180C/ Gas 6. To make the béchamel sauce, pour the milk into a saucepan and add the onion and the bay leaf. Bring to the boil, then remove from the heat and leave to infuse for 15 mins.
2 In another pan, melt the butter, then add the flour and stir in, to make a roux. Cook it for a few mins. Remove the onion and bay leaf from the milk and pour a little into the roux and stir until smooth, then a little more and stir, and so on until all of the milk has been added. The sauce should be completely smooth at each stage before you add more milk, or you will have a lumpy sauce. Season to taste.
3 To prepare the rosti topping, parboil the potato and swede for 10 mins, drain and cool. Use a spiraliser or grater to turn all the root veg into strips.
4 Put the veg strips into a large bowl and add the melted butter and cheese; season the mix and turn with your hands until well mixed and coated.
5 Take a 28x20cm pie dish and lay in the fish, boiled egg and capers. Coat with the sauce and top with the rosti mix. Bake for 35–45 mins until crispytopped and bubbling, and serve hot.