Everyday dinner
Fish pie with peas and a potato topping
Cod, salmon, peas and leeks in a creamy parsley sauce, tucked beneath golden mashed potato.
Free guide: thirty gluten-free dinners, with the shopping lists
Poach the cod and salmon in milk, then use that milk to make a creamy leek, pea and parsley sauce. A fork-ridged potato topping turns golden in the oven.
This gluten-free fish pie serves four. Cornflour thickens the sauce, and the milk and butter allocations are included in the ingredient list.
The recipe
Fish pie with peas and a potato topping
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 75 min
- Total*
- 100 min
- Makes
- 4 servings
*Estimated development timings. Allow 5 minutes standing after baking, making approximately 105 minutes before serving. Defrosting, make-ahead chilling and reheating are additional.
Ingredients
Tick things off as you go.
Potato topping and shared dairy
Fish and vegetable filling
Equipment
- Use a wide 3-litre ovenproof dish with at least 1 cm of space above the assembled pie.
- Use a large saucepan for the potatoes and a wide saucepan with a lid for the fish and sauce on two hob rings.
- Have a colander, potato masher, heatproof measuring jug, small bowl, whisk, slotted spoon and wooden spoon ready.
- Use a chopping board, sharp knife and kitchen scales.
- Place the pie dish on a baking tray on the middle oven shelf.
- Use a clean food thermometer to check the fish and the centre of the pie.
Let’s make it.
- 01
Prepare the kitchen
Heat the oven to 200°C / 180°C fan / gas 6. Check packaged ingredients for gluten-free suitability and clean away flour and crumbs from equipment and worktops. Prepare the vegetables before handling the fish. Feel along the fillets, remove any bones and cut into 3 cm pieces. Refrigerate until needed. Wash hands, the knife and the board after handling raw fish. Check that no bones remain and that the ovenproof dish fits on its baking tray.
- 02
Boil the potatoes
Peel the potatoes and cut into roughly 3 cm chunks. Place in the large saucepan with the 2 litres of water. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 15–20 minutes, until a knife slides easily through the largest pieces. Poach the fish on the second hob ring while the potatoes cook.
- 03
Poach the fish
Reserve 100 ml of the sauce milk in a small bowl for the cornflour. Pour the other 400 ml into a wide saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer. Add the cod and salmon in a single layer, spoon the milk over them and cover. Poach gently for approximately 5–8 minutes, turning the pieces carefully halfway through. Check the largest pieces of both fish: their centres should reach 75°C for 30 seconds, and the flesh should be opaque and flake easily. Continue cooking if needed. Lift the fish into the ovenproof dish with a slotted spoon. Pour all the poaching milk into a heatproof jug, keeping it for the sauce. Continue straight away with the filling.
- 04
Make the vegetable sauce
In the emptied wide saucepan, melt 25 g butter over a medium-low heat. Add the leeks and cook for 10–12 minutes, stirring regularly, until soft but not browned. Whisk the cornflour into the reserved 100 ml cold milk until no lumps remain. Pour the warm poaching milk into the leeks, then stir the cornflour mixture again and add it. Bring to a gentle bubble, stirring, and cook for 2 minutes until the sauce thickens. Add the frozen peas, return to a simmer and cook for at least the time stated on their packet. Stir regularly until the peas are tender and hot throughout and the sauce coats the spoon. Remove from the heat and stir in the parsley, 1 g salt and half the pepper.
- 05
Mash the topping
Drain the tender potatoes and discard their cooking water. Leave in their warm pan off the heat for 2 minutes, until the surfaces look dry. Mash with the remaining 25 g butter, 100 ml milk, 1 g salt and remaining pepper. The mash should spread easily while holding ridges from a fork.
- 06
Assemble the pie
Pour the hot pea and leek sauce over the poached fish. Gently ease the sauce between the pieces without breaking them up too much. Spoon the mash over the filling, join the spoonfuls and roughen the surface with a fork. Check that the topping covers the filling and sits at least 1 cm below the rim. Place the dish on its baking tray and bake straight away.
- 07
Bake the pie
Bake for 30–35 minutes, until the potato ridges are golden and the sauce bubbles around the edges. Check the centre with a clean food thermometer: it should reach 75°C for at least 30 seconds. Continue baking if necessary and check again; the colour of the topping does not show whether the middle is hot enough. Clean the thermometer after use.
- 08
Rest and serve
Leave the pie to stand for 5 minutes, until the vigorous bubbling has settled. Divide into four portions, scooping through the full depth so each serving includes fish, vegetables, sauce and potato.
Ingredient checks
Use plain uncoated, unmarinated cod and salmon, plain peas, pure dairy milk and butter, and cornflour labelled gluten-free. Check packaged ingredients and seasonings for gluten-free suitability, allergen declarations and cross-contact warnings. For someone with coeliac disease, protect ingredients from crumbs and flour and thoroughly clean pans, the colander, utensils, boards and worktops. The total milk is 600 ml: 400 ml for poaching and the sauce, 100 ml for the cornflour mixture and 100 ml for the mash. The total butter is 50 g, split equally between filling and topping.
Allergens: Contains fish from the cod and salmon.; Contains milk from the milk and butter.; No celery, cereals containing gluten, crustaceans, eggs, lupin, molluscs, mustard, tree nuts, peanuts, sesame, soya or sulphites are intentionally added; check individual product labels and cross-contact warnings.; Substitutions can change the allergens present, and gluten-free does not mean suitable for every food allergy..
Make it work for you
Replace the cod with the same weight of plain raw haddock or pollock, keeping the pieces approximately 3 cm across and using the same cooking checks.
For an all-white-fish pie, replace the salmon with another 300 g of plain raw cod or haddock.
Frozen raw fish can replace fresh fish by drained, thawed weight; defrost fully in a covered container in the fridge and use within 24 hours of complete thawing.
Replace the parsley with 10 g finely snipped fresh chives if preferred.
For another day
For make-ahead meals, finish baking the pie, then divide it into shallow portions, cool promptly and refrigerate within 1–2 hours; keep at 0–5°C and eat within 48 hours.
Freeze cooled cooked portions promptly in labelled airtight containers if they will not be eaten within 48 hours; freezing texture has not been kitchen-tested.
Defrost cooked portions fully in the fridge and use within 24 hours of complete thawing.
Reheat individual portions only once until steaming throughout, checking that the centre reaches 75°C for 30 seconds; follow microwave instructions for turning and standing if using a microwave.
Complete the poaching, assembly and baking in one cooking session; do not pause to chill the poached fish for later assembly.
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