Fish Pie

Thanks, Jamie Oliver. I love this recipe. Although it's a little fiddly, and involves cream - which I buy about twice a year - the results are well worth it. We are having this for dinner tonight, should be perfect for this cold, wet and snowy day.

You can actually cook the potatoes, spinach, eggs, and the carrot and onion in advance (before adding the cream), then assemble it all just before baking, as I do think this is best served straight from the oven. These days I find the arsenic hour can be calmed somewhat by having dinner almost-if-not-ready to go before heading out for school pick-up at 3pm.

Fantastic Fish Pie
5 large potatoes, peeled and cut into 2cm cubes
2 large handfuls spinach
2 free-range eggs
1 carrot, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
285ml double cream
juice of 1 lemon
1 large tsp English mustard
2 handfuls grated mature Cheddar or parmesan cheese
1 handful parsley, finely chopped
about 500-600g boneless skinless fish - tonight I'm using Blue Grenadier - cut into large strips and placed in an ovenproof baking dish

Preheat oven to 220C.
Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Add potatoes and return to the boil. After 2 minutes, add the eggs (carefully), then boil for a further 8-10 mins until the potatoes are cooked and eggs are hardboiled. A minute before this, put the spinach in a colander or metal sieve above the pot and allow to wilt.
Remove the spinach and squeeze out excess water, cool the eggs under cold water, peel and quarter, set aside. Drain and mash the potatoes with a little milk, olive oil, s & p and nutmeg if you like.
In another pot, heat 1 tsp olive oil and cook the onion and carrot for 5 minutes. Add the cream, bring to the boil, then remove from heat and add lemon juice, mustard, cheese and parsley.
Put the creamy sauce and the spinach and the eggs over the fish. Top with mashed potatoes.
Bake in hot oven for 20-25 minutes.
Serve with extra greens.