Admiral’s Pie

When I make fish pie I use whatever assortment of fish looks good but for Admiral’s Pie I always use cod and prawns. I don’t cook the fish before it goes into the oven so I make an extra thick sauce because it will mix with the water from the frozen fish to make the sauce. I absolutely love mashed potato but because the fish and prawns are so soft I prefer the extra texture of scalloped potatoes on top of this pie instead.

INGREDIENTS
Serves 2 Adults & 2 Kids
400g frozen cod
250g frozen prawns
150g frozen peas
approx. 700g russet potatoes
1/2 onion
2 bay leaves
3 cloves
2 garlic cloves
60g unsalted butter
4 shallots or 1 small onion
4 tbsp plain flour
500ml milk
1 tbsp horseradish
1/2 tsp salt
black pepper

• Arrange the frozen cod, prawns and peas in a baking dish and allow to defrost a little while the potatoes are cooking. Pour off any excess liquid from the dish before assembling the pie. Peel the potatoes and leave whole then place into cold water with 1 tsp of salt. Bring the water to the boil then cook the potatoes for 25 minutes. Once the potatoes are par-boiled remove them from the water and allow to cool for 5 minutes.
• Pour the milk into a small pan then add the peeled onion, bay leaf, cloves and peeled garlic then cook for 10 minutes over a medium high heat: Do not boil – you want at least 400ml of milk after 10 minutes. Once the flavours have infused into the milk remove all the flavourings and discard.
• Pre-heat the oven to 220°C (200°C Fan). Peel and slice the shallots. Add the butter to a small saucepan over a medium high heat and try the shallots for 5 minutes until softened. Sprinkle in the flour and stir to combine. Gradually but consistently add the milk whilst stirring until you have a thick sauce then stir in the salt and horseradish. The sauce will be really thick but it will thin out as it combines with the water in the fish.
• Slice the potatoes into 3mm deep discs. Pour the sauce over the fish and peas and grind over with pepper then top with slices of potato, overlapping to cover the sauce. Grind salt over the potatoes then dot over with butter. Pop into the oven for 25 minutes then under a 225°C grill for 10 minutes to brown the potatoes.