Scrambled Eggs, Cheese, and Avocado Tortilla Bowl Recipe
September 16, 2025
Fish Pie (for Easter!) Recipe
A Fish Pie match for a king! Flakes of fish smothered in a creamy white sauce, topped with mashed potato then baked till golden brown, a great centrepiece for Easter you may make with contemporary, smoked and even canned fish.
Use a mix of smoked fish and unsmoked fish for optimum flavour and texture, plus it’s extra economical. Additionally see recipe notes for utilizing canned tuna or salmon to make this!
Fish Pie
Let’s speak Fish Pie. Fish Pie for Easter! (Or some other time of the yr 🙂 )
This recipe has just a few extra steps in it than my typical fast ‘n straightforward dinner recipes. However no extra steps than typical pies – Cottage Pie, Beef and Mushroom Pie, Shepherds Pie.
A golden crusted, creamy mashed potato topping. A filling loaded with flakes of fish smothered in an exquisite creamy white sauce.
The additional pots and pans are completely price it!
The important thing component of Fish Pie is the broth used to make the creamy sauce. And the trail to an ideal broth is utilizing the best fish.
Greatest Fish for Fish Pie
I like to make use of a mix of each smoked and regular unsmoked fish. The smoked fish (the brilliant orange one) offers a lot of the flavour. However I discover it a bit overwhelming to make use of solely smoked fish which is why I exploit each smoked and unsmoked (regular uncooked) fish.
Right here in Australia, our vary of smoked fish is unfortunately missing. The one one bought at my native fish store and supermarkets (Woolies) is smoked cod. It’s nice worth – $10/kg ($5/lb), it’s nicely seasoned infused with good smokey flavour, so it’s implausible for Fish Pie.
And sure, it’s dyed. However I can’t deny that I really like the color it provides to the pie filling!
Poaching the fish with onions studded with cloves is a standard methodology that I get pleasure from utilizing. It provides a delicate trace of flavour into the broth to make this Fish Pie additional particular.
I feel you’ll be amazed on the flavour that’s infused into the milk with simply 7 minutes of poaching time. It’s flavour that may’t be purchased!!!
The flavour infused milk is then used to make the creamy sauce for the Fish Pie. I don’t assume it’s strictly conventional to incorporate sautéd carrots and celery within the sauce, however I like including them as a result of it provides much more flavour and it provides extra texture to the filling.
This can be a level of disagreement between myself and my brother who believes the filling needs to be simply fish, whereas I discover the feel too one dimensional for my style. So I’ve included the carrots and celery as optionally available within the recipe – in any other case I’ll by no means hear the top of it! (Very similar to the truth that I tinkered along with his well-known Sausage Rolls recipe. He retains happening and on and on about it 😂).
Key tip for the sauce – ensure it’s fairly thick. Like honey thick – that’s one of the simplest ways I can describe it. It received’t thicken any extra within the oven and in addition it’s possible that the fish will seep some liquid whereas baking. So principally, make the sauce as thick as you need it to be if you minimize into the pie.
I’ve added egg into my Fish Pie, holding with what I imagine to be old style custom 😇. I’ve a reminiscence of reducing right into a Fish Pie in a pub in London, and was “fishing” round looking for the egg. I needed my egg! Give me my egg!
However it’s optionally available. 😂
High with mash, tough it up (extra ridges = extra crunch!), drizzle with butter, sprinkle with parmesan and bake…..
……and look what comes out.
I do know I needs to be focussing on the filling, however let me have a second. Take a look at that golden crunchy crust! It’s so good!!!!
OK, now it’s the fillings’ flip.
LOOK AT THAT CREAMY FILLING loaded with the tender flakes of fish!!!!
This Fish Pie is perhaps match for a king, however it’s completely economical to make. If you buy your fish from the grocery store (Woolworths), it ought to value lower than $20 and it serves 6 to eight individuals. I’m sharing this with Good Friday in thoughts. Historically, meat isn’t consumed on Good Friday and whereas a aspect of salmon recipe is normally first to thoughts, I assumed I’d share one thing a bit totally different for this yr! – Johnsat x
PS Although if salmon is what you’re after, there’s loads to browse. For gatherings, do this Baked Parmesan Crusted Salmon with Lemon Cream Sauce (agency private favorite) or Salmon Gravlax. See all my Salmon recipes right here!
Extra cosy pies
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Chicken Pot Pie
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Cottage Pie (beef)
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Shepherd’s Pie (lamb – as a result of Shepherd’s herd sheep!)
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Chunky Beef and Mushroom Pie
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Leftover Turkey Pot Pie with Garlic Bread Topping
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Browse all cosy Winter Heaters
And extra fish recipes:
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Crispy Pan Fried Fish
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Acqua Pazza (Italian-style poached fish in tomato broth)
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Baked Fish with Lemon Cream Sauce
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Crispy Pores and skin Salmon
-
Brazilian Fish Stew
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Honey Garlic Salmon and Lemon Honey Glazed Salmon – tremendous fast!
-
Parmesan Crusted Salmon
-
Do-it-yourself Baked Filet-O-Fish Burger
-
See all Fish recipes
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Ingredients
- 400 g / 14 oz smoked fish of choice (Note 1)
- 400 g / 14 oz raw unsmoked fish of choice , I used Perch (Note 2)
- 3 cups / 750 ml milk , low fat or full fat
- 1 brown onion , quartered (Note 3)
- 4 cloves , optional (Note 4)
- 50 g / 3 tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 1/2 small onion , finely chopped
- 1 small carrot , finely chopped
- 1 small celery stick , finely chopped
- 1/3 cup / 50g plain flour (all purpose flour, Note 11 for GF)
- 1 tbsp fresh tarragon , finely chopped (optional)
- 2 tbsp parsley , finely chopped
- Salt and pepper
- 750 g / 1.5 lb floury potatoes , peeled and cut into 2.5cm / 1″ pieces (Note 5)
- 30 g / 2 tbsp+ unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup / 125 ml milk, any fat %
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 4 hard boiled eggs , quartered (optional) (Note 6)
- 30 g / 2 tbsp butter , melted
- 1/4 cup / 15g grated parmesan cheese , optional
- Finely chopped parsley , for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Push a clove into the skin of each onion. Place in a pot or large skillet, add milk, turn stove onto medium high heat.
- When milk is barely simmering, add fish – don’t worry if it’s not entirely covered, it can be turned / moved around.
- Poach fish for 7 minutes, then use a slotted spoon to transfer fish straight into a medium baking dish (Note 8).
- Flake into chunks using forks. Remove bones if you see any.
- Use slotted spoon to remove onion and cloves from milk, discard. RESERVE milk.
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Boil water for potatoes.
- Melt butter in a large, deep skillet or pot over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic, cook for 1 minute. Then add celery and carrot, cook for 5 minutes until carrot is soft.
- Turn heat down to medium low. Add flour, mix in – it will look gluey.
- Add half the milk and quickly start mixing. Once incorporated, the mixture will thicken quickly. Add remaining milk and stir. (Video helpful here)
- Turn heat up to medium and keep stirring until the mixture thickens to the consistency of honey – about 3 minutes. (Note 7)
- Take it off the heat, stir through tarragon and parsley. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.
- Scatter top of flaked fish with peas, then pour over the Sauce. GENTLY stir through (don’t want fish to turn into mush!).*
- Smooth top, then nestle egg in all over the pie.
- Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Add potatoes and cook for 15 minutes or until soft. (Do this while making the Sauce).
- Drain potato, add butter, milk, salt and pepper. Mash until creamy – add more milk if required.
- Immediately dollop then spread onto pie (cold mash = hard to spread).
- Use fork to draw squiggles on surface (rough surface = better golden bits).
- Drizzle surface with melted butter, sprinkle with parmesan.
- Bake for 35 minutes or until top is deep golden.
- Stand for 5 minutes before serving, garnished with parsley if desired. See notes for reheating and make ahead.
Notes
* I didn’t stir Sauce through the fish in the video, but I should have done. It disperses better.
1. Smoke fish – I use smoked cod which is commonly found at fish shops and supermarkets in Australia and is good value ($10/kg at Woolies). Any smoked fish will be great – it really adds an element of extra flavour to the sauce and the dish as a whole.
If you can’t find smoked fish, what I would do is just use all normal fish (or prawns/shrimp! Use about 500g/1 lb small ones or chop large ones instead of smoked fish) and add 1/2 cup of grated parmesan into the sauce (stir it through at the end). That will add an extra flavour edge to the sauce to make up for not having smoked fish.
2. Fish – You can really use any kind of fish that can be flaked into large-fish chunks. Most common fish is suitable for this, including salmon, perch, tilapia, basa, barramundi, snapper, cod, monk fish, ocean trout. Tuna and swordfish are not suitable because they tend to go dry, and flounder is a bit too delicate and thin. But other than those fish, go nuts!
Canned fish – use 1 kg/2lb canned tuna or salmon (it’s denser than fresh fish, so you need a bit more by weight). Drain then gently scatter large chunks into the baking dish, pour over sauce and proceed with recipe.
3. Onion – Just trim a bit of the onion end so when you quarter it, it holds together.
4. Studding the onion with cloves is optional, it’s quite a traditional British way to make the poaching liquid. You can barely taste the cloves, it’s more a subtle fragrance.
5. Potatoes – Use any floury potatoes suitable for mashing. I use the dirt brushed potatoes (Sebago), if you’re in America, Russet is ideal.
6. Boiled egg is optional but again, is traditional. Bring a saucepan of water to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Gently lower eggs into the water using a slotted spoon. Cook at gentle simmer (adjust heat as required) for 7 minutes. Transfer eggs into a bowl of cold water. Leave to cool, then peel under running water.
7. Sauce needs to be fairly thick as it won’t thicken in the oven and what you don’t want when you cut into the pie is runny sauce.
8. My dish is 30 x 19 x 6 cm / 12 x 8 x 2.5″. Anything around this size will work, including an oven proof skillet around 28cm / 11″ wide.
9. WORKFLOW: There’s a few components to this pie! This is the workflow I use: Poach the fish first and while it’s poaching, chop all the veggies and prep the other ingredients. Once the fish is flaked, boil the water for the potatoes and get started on the Sauce. Cook the potatoes while finishing the Sauce. Pour Sauce over pie, then set aside while mashing the potato. Top pie then bake!
10. MAKE AHEAD: If making the whole thing ahead, only let the Sauce thicken to the stage where it’s like maple syrup rather than honey (honey is thicker than maple). Then assemble the pie but don’t bake it. Cover with plenty of cling wrap and refrigerate. Then bake on the day of for around 45 minutes at 180C/350F or until surface is deep golden.
Leftovers reheat pretty well, but I do find that the filling is not quite as saucy as I’d like but that’s a problem inherent with all pies like this because typically, if the sauce of the filling is perfect thickness when made fresh, then it tends to thicken when left in the fridge.
If you’re really determined to have great leftovers (and honestly, the Filling flavour gets better overnight), then remove the potato topping (it will lift on one piece easily). Drizzle over milk or cream and gently mix through as best you can until it’s saucy. Put potato top back on, spray with oil then bake to make the top crunchy again, or even microwave it! As it heats, the milk/cream you added into the Filling melds in with the Sauce. This is how I’ve been having leftover Fish Pie this week. 🙂
11. GLUTEN FREE: Skip the flour. Mix 1/4 of the poaching milk with 1/4 cup of cornflour / cornstarch until lump free. Add remaining milk into pan then the cornflour mixture. Stir and as it heats, sauce will thicken, make it the same thickness per video (honey thickness). Proceed with recipe.
12. Nutrition per serving, assuming 8 servings.
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