Our Favourite Recipes
Italian Fish Pie with Basil Pesto

Italian Fish Pie with Basil Pesto

What's better than classic fish pie, all creamy white sauce, flaky sweet fish and pillowy mash? How about our Italian fish pie recipe! With just a couple of tweaks, it's a full-flavoured Pesto-infused wonder that the whole family will adore.
Profile Serves: 6
Icon/Time On the table in: 55 mins
SHOP ALL PESTO
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Buon Appetito

Ingredients

For the mash:

  • 1kg floury potatoes
  • 75g butter, melted
  • 150ml single cream
  • 150ml milk
  • Salt and pepper

For the pie filling:

  • 450g cod fillet, fresh or defrosted
  • 175g salmon fillet, fresh or defrosted
  • 600ml/1 pint milk
  • ½ onion, sliced
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 225g tomatoes
  • 175g frozen cooked, shelled prawns, defrosted
  • 50g butter
  • 25g plain flour
  • ½ jar Sacla’ Classic Basil Pesto

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/ fan oven 160°C. For the mash, peel the potatoes and cut into even-sized chunks. Put them in a pan with enough water to cover. Bring to the boil and simmer, until cooked
  2. Drain the potatoes, return to the pan and add the butter. Mash until smooth. Add the cream and milk and beat until light and fluffy. Season with salt and pepper to taste
  3. Meanwhile, put the cod and salmon in a frying pan, pour in the milk and add the onion and bay leaf. Bring to a very gentle simmer, cover and cook for 2 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and leave to stand and infuse for 20 minutes. Drain the milk from the fish through a colander into a bowl, and then pour the milk into a jug – you will need about 450ml milk for the sauce
  4. In the meantime, plunge the tomatoes into boiling water for 30 seconds, then refresh in cold water and peel away the skins. Cut into quarters, remove the seeds and roughly chop the flesh
  5. Now flake the cod and salmon into a buttered ovenproof dish. Add the prawns and tomatoes
  6. To make the sauce, melt 25g of the butter in a pan, add the flour and cook for 30 seconds. Stir in most of the reserved milk, and cook, stirring, until thickened. Add more milk if the sauce is too thick. Stir in the Pesto and pour over the fish
  7. Spoon the mash on top of the fish mixture, covering it completely. Dot with the remaining butter
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