Ingredients
- 750g red-skinned potatoes
- 400g mixed fish fillets a mix of smoked and unsmoked haddock is traditional. Check the frozen food aisle in your supermarket
- 4 peppercorns (optional)
- 1 bay leaf (optional)
- a few splashes of milk
- a dash of vegetable oil
- bunch of spring onions, finely chopped
- 150g unshelled prawns/shrimp, cooked or uncooked, large or small, its up to you
- 2 tbsp frozen peas
- small bunch of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
- 200ml full-fat crème fraîche
- 100g Cheddar cheese, grated
- 2 hard-boiled eggs
- a large splash of milk
- knob of butter
Instructions
- Peel and chop the potatoes, then pop them into a large saucepan of salted water. Bring to the boil and cook until tender usually about 20 minutes.
- While the potatoes are cooking, place the fillets in a large frying pan and cover with milk. Add a few peppercorns and a bay leaf, if you have one. Turn the heat on and bring to the boil. Simmer, while keeping a close eye on it, to make sure the milk doesnt boil over. Keep cooking until the fish is opaque.
- Once opaque, remove the fish from the milk and flake it off the skin using a fork. While you are doing this, give the fillets a good feel with the tips of your fingers to make sure there are no bones.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas 6.
- In a frying pan with some vegetable oil, lightly fry the spring onions until they are translucent.
- Add the prawns/shrimp and cook until pink (or let them heat through if they are already cooked). Then throw in the peas. Pop the fish flakes in and take off the heat.
- Add the crème fraîche and about three quarters of the grated cheese, all the parsley, black pepper and a little salt. Chop the boiled eggs roughly and add. Then give the whole lot a stir, trying not to let the fish disintegrate too much, but covering everything with the crème fraîche.
- Place the fish in a 2 litre ovenproof dish or 4 individual ramekins.
- Take the cooked potatoes off the heat. Mash them until creamy, add milk and butter. Season well with salt and pepper (theres nothing worse than under-seasoned mashed potato, so taste and check).
- Place the mashed potato on top of the fish mix and spread over evenly. Using a fork, scrape the potato up and down in lines to make attractive little peaks.
- Scatter over the remaining cheese and pop in the oven for 30 minutes, until the top is golden brown. Serve with a salad and ketchup.