When I first saw Jamie Oliver’s article for fish pie I thought “meh.”  But then I read the recipe with ingredients and was once again impressed with the genius of Jamie.  The first time I made the recipe I was in France and cooking for a crowd.  This time it was just me and the old man who generally is not excited about fish unless it’s salmon.  So I halved the ingredients and hoped he would be just as impressed as I was by the pure deliciousness of this pie.

Originally, I made the fish pie with cod instead of smoked haddock as Steve, the fish monger, was fresh out of smoked haddock.  This time I ordered good quality, smoked haddock on line.  I’m glad I did.

The recipe is fairly simple;  prep the ingredients,  mix them all together, place in the bottom of a baking pan, cover with mashed potatoes drizzled with butter and bake.  This method of covering various ingredients with mashed potatoes, known as parmentier, was made famous in France by Antoine-Augustin Parmentier who introduced potatoes into French cuisine.  Prior to that, potatoes were considered animal feed.  You can visit his tombstone a the Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.  The school children always leave offerings of potatoes on the grave and tombstone.  I liked that 🙂

Think of this as a cottage pie, only better.

Fish Pie

1 lbs potatoes, mashed with butter, salt and pepper

1 carrot, grated

1 shallot, chopped

2 sticks celery,  very finely chopped

1/2 green chilli, finely chopped

4 sprigs parsley, finely chopped

1 cup cheddar, grated

1/2 lemon, juice and zest

1/2 cup fresh spinach, chopped

1 tomato, cut into eighths

1/2 cup pancetta strips

1/2 lb salmon, cut into cubes

1/2 lb fresh cod or smoked haddock,  cut into cubes

1/2 lb shrimp

Salt and pepper

Olive oil

Melted butter

In a very large bowl, mix the carrot, shallot, celery, chilli, parsley, cheddar, lemon juice, zest, spinach, tomatoe, pancetta, salmon, cod or haddock and shrimp together.  Season with salt and pepper, then add a slug of olive oil and mix.  Put the fish mixture on the bottom of whatever type of baking pan you decide to use and cover with the mashed potatoes.  Drizzle with the melted butter.

Bake in a 400 F oven for 40-50 minutes until bubbly and browned.