A Taste of Home: The Murrough Posh Fish Pie By Catherine Fulvio

A Taste of Home is a food story from Ballyknocken House, nestled in the gentle rolling hills of County Wicklow, where generations of Catherine Fulvio’s family have lived and farmed for over 100 years. This Posh Fish Pie is a perfect autumn comfort meal.

Serves 4

This was my mother’s signature fish dish. We traipsed around the whole island of Ireland with this dish as she entered fish-cookery competitions across the country. She used to present the pie in scallop shells and as kids we used to think, ‘How posh!’ Now I think, ‘How very 1980s!’

Ingredients

For the filling

300ml milk

2 bay leaves

3 tbsp butter

4 tbsp plain flour

salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tsp chopped parsley

2 tsp roughly chopped chervil

150g smoked haddock, diced

150g salmon, diced

200g skinless white fish such as haddock, cod or pollack, diced

150g prawns, shelled

For the mashed potatoes

4 large potatoes, steamed

30g butter

100ml milk

pinch of nutmeg

salt and freshly ground black pepper

melted butter, for brushing

For the mashed sweet potato

1 medium sweet potato, steamed

2 to 3 tbsp milk

1 tbsp butter

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Brush a medium-sized gratin dish with melted butter. Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/gas 4.

To prepare the filling, pour the milk into a medium saucepan over a medium heat with the bay leaves, butter and flour and stir until a thick sauce forms. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and add the chopped parsley and chervil. Add the diced fish and prawns to the sauce and simmer gently until the fish is just cooked. This should take about 5 minutes. Check the seasoning again.

To prepare the potatoes, push the warm potatoes through a ricer. Warm the milk and butter in the microwave and add to the potatoes with a little grated nutmeg, salt and pepper. Spoon into a piping bag with a star nozzle. Now mash the sweet potatoes and add the milk, butter, salt and pepper. Spoon into another piping bag with another star nozzle.

To assemble, spoon the fish into the gratin dish. Pipe a line of sweet potato diagonally across and then pipe the potato over the rest of the pie. Place in the oven for about 12 to 15 minutes until the top is lightly golden. Serve with a green salad.

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