Tuesday 23 January 2018

Recipe: fish pie

This was a complete meal as I included peas in the bottom.

Ingredients:
spray oil
a shallot, quarter of a small red pepper, two wrinkled mushrooms, all chopped
a portion of frozen peas
half a smoked basa fillets
six prawns
a dollop of garlic and herb flavoured quark
milk
thickening granules
dried parsley
bit of salt and pepper

half a small sweet potato and the same amount of ordinary potato, peeled and cut into cubes
seasonings
bit of grated Not-Parmesan (Supermarket hard Italian cheese - cheaper and vegetarian friendly)

Method
I softened the vegetables in spray oil plus a splash of water.

Then I added the fish, cubed, and the prawns and then the quark with some milk.  As it heated it threatened to split so I hurriedly added some thickening granules which stopped it.  I think it was lack of fat that caused the 'damage'.


I added some seasoning (not much salt because of the fish) and some dried parsley.

I steam cooked the two potatoes together and then mashed them up with salt, pepper, and a bit of grated Not-Parmesan.

I put the fish mix in the ovenproof dish, spooned the topping over and spread it out


. . . and then baked it at 200 C fan for about 35 to 40 mins.



It was jolly tasty but . . .
. . . apart from the splitting problems, the bottom and the topping sort of amalgamated as they cooked so there wasn't really a clear division or sauce, it was more like a large fish cake.  I suspect that was the quark too and in future I will use lower fat soft cheese instead as I usually do, or just make a sauce with milk and thickening granules.
But now I know I can use that quark in fishcakes and probably in veggie burgers, etc, too.  I don't find it particularly nice 'raw', so to speak.

The potato and sweet potato topping was delicious.

12 comments:

  1. Love fish pie. I like your fish decoration on the potato - very artistic!

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    Replies
    1. LOL - thanks, I wondered of anyone would notice. Amazing what you can do with a fork, isn't it?
      J x

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  2. I love mixing up the topping. I have root mash sometimes, carrots, swede and potato. Sweet mash, sweet potato and potato or butternut squash and potato.

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    Replies
    1. It's a much fuller flavour than just potato, isn't it, unless the potato is laden with butter and cheese which I really can't do at the moment.
      J x

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  3. That looks very tasty! Love a bit of root mash :-)

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    1. It was really nice, just not quite what I expected under the mash. :-) However, some surprises are good and this one certainly was.
      J x

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  4. I use all root veg to make toppings but cauliflower mash is my "new" favourite,I just steam it and break it down with a fork and add a little soft cheese spread. Fish pie may have to go on next weeks plan, I have Basa fillets in the freezer.

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    Replies
    1. Soft cheese is so useful for so many things, isn't it? I like to melt a bit in my soups.
      J x

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  5. I like your fishy swirl on the top, nice touch. I always stir my fillings and toppings together anyway so the merging wouldn't have bothered me at all :-)

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    Replies
    1. :-) I think maybe I was just disappointed/surprised that I didn't have a clearly defined sauce because actually it was jolly nice! I'm just a fusspot!!! :-)
      J x

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  6. Oh, quark is horrible when eaten raw! I use it in crustless quich (Slimming World style) but for most recipes in place of cream cheese I often use 0% fat Greek yogurt.

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    Replies
    1. Not that's an idea - I'm overdue for making a crustless quiche again and the garlic and herb flavour would go very well. I was wondering if it would make a good pizza base instead of yogurt. Or even some soda bread (I use yogurt instead of buttermilk). I might just try those at some point and see.
      Thanks for the idea. :-)
      J x

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