Fish pie
Flaky white fish and peas in a creamy sauce under a golden blanket of mashed potatoes, the coziest thing a bag of frozen fish can become.
- 80 min total
- 40 min hands-on
- A little more hands-on
- Serves 6
- About $2.33 a serving
- 440 calories
- Good the next day
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 6 servings.
- 4 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch chunks
- 3 cups milk, divided
- 1½ lb frozen white fish fillets, thawed
- 6 tbsp butter, divided
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- ½ lemon, zested and juiced
- ¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped
- ½ cup shredded cheddar
From your pantry
- 2 tsp salt, divided
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp black pepper
Each serving has about 440 calories, 29 g protein, 41 g carbs and 19 g fat, and costs about $2.33 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No russet potatoes? Yukon Gold potatoes work.
- No milk? Half-and-half works.
- No butter? Ghee works.
- No frozen peas? Frozen mixed vegetables work.
- No lemons? Limes work.
- No fresh parsley? Cilantro works.
- No shredded cheddar? Cheddar cheese or Mexican blend cheese or Monterey Jack cheese works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Put the potatoes in a large pot, cover with cold water, add 1 teaspoon of the salt and over high heat.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
15 minutes, until very tender.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Low heatTimer: 15 min
Meanwhile, pour 2½ cups of the milk into a large , add the fish and bring to a gentle over medium heat. Cook 5 to 6 minutes, until the fish flakes.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Medium heatTimer: 5 min 30 sec
Dolly’s tip: Gentle bubbles only. Boiling milk scorches and toughens the fish.Food safety: Fish is done at 145°F, when the middle looks opaque and flakes apart easily with a fork.
Lift the fish onto a plate with a slotted spoon and pour the milk into a measuring cup to use in the sauce. the oven to 400°F.
Preheat. Preheating means turning the oven on before you start, so it’s fully hot when the food goes in. Food that starts in a cold oven cooks unevenly and doesn’t brown the same.
How you’ll know: The oven beeps or its light clicks off, usually 10 to 15 minutes after you turn it on.
3 tablespoons of the butter in the same over medium heat, whisk in the flour and cook, , for 1 minute.
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Whisk. Whisking means beating quickly with a whisk or a fork to blend things together. It smooths out lumps and mixes eggs, oil or sauces evenly.
How you’ll know: It all looks one even color and texture, with no streaks or lumps.
Medium heatTimer: 1 min
Slowly whisk in the saved milk and cook 3 to 4 minutes, , until thick enough to coat a spoon.
Whisk. Whisking means beating quickly with a whisk or a fork to blend things together. It smooths out lumps and mixes eggs, oil or sauces evenly.
How you’ll know: It all looks one even color and texture, with no streaks or lumps.
Medium heatTimer: 3 min 30 sec
Dolly’s tip: Pour slowly and keep whisking. Lumps happen when the milk goes in all at once.Off the heat, in the peas, mustard, lemon and juice, parsley, pepper and ½ teaspoon of the salt. Flake in the fish in big pieces and spread it in a 9x13-inch baking dish.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Zest. Zest is the thin, colored outer layer of citrus peel, rubbed off on the smallest holes of a grater. It holds the fruit’s fragrant oils, so it adds bright flavor without the sourness of juice.
How you’ll know: You see bright flecks and smell citrus right away; stop when you reach the white layer, which is bitter.
the potatoes and mash them with the rest of the butter, milk and salt until smooth.
Drain. Draining means pouring off liquid, like tipping pasta into a colander or spooning extra fat out of the pan. Pour hot grease into a can or jar, not the sink, where it hardens and clogs the pipes.
How you’ll know: Only a few drips are left, and the food isn’t sitting in a puddle.
Spoon the mash over the filling, spread it to the edges and rough up the top with a fork. Scatter the cheddar over.
25 to 30 minutes, until the filling bubbles at the edges and the top is .
Bake. Baking means cooking in the oven with dry heat all around the food. It cooks evenly from every side, so you can mostly leave it alone.
How you’ll know: It’s golden on top and passes the recipe’s check, like a clean toothpick or the right temperature.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Timer: 27 min 30 sec
Dolly’s tip: To make it ahead, assemble, cool, cover and chill for up to a day. Bake it from cold for about 40 minutes.Let it sit for 10 minutes before serving so the sauce settles.
Timer: 10 min
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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