Mary Berry’s lazy fish pie recipe ditches mash for 1 easier tip to get a crispier topping
If you're looking for an easy evening meal idea and love fish, you need to give this pie recipe from Mary Berrya go. Instead of topping the creamy filling with mash, Mary follows a different way to cook the potatoes.
Mary Berry’s fish pie is a creamy, comforting classic made with salmon, hake and a rich white sauce topped with a golden, crispy potato crust. It’s the kind of oven-baked dish recipe that feels right at home at a family dinner but is just as fitting for entertaining thanks to its deep flavour and generous filling.
Despite its impressive appearance, this fish pie recipe is surprisingly straightforward to make, and the mix of fish brings exceptional depth without requiring advanced cooking skills. Instead of topping the fish sauce with creamy mashed potatoes, Mary Berry recommends using crushed potatoes. Not only does it save you from mashing a mountain of spuds, but that golden, crispy potato top may turn out to be the best part. It crisps up beautifully with just a drizzle of olive oil, and the soft chunks underneath soak up the lemony, creamy fish filling like a dream.
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Plus, because there’s no fiddly piping or mash spreading, it’s much quicker to pull together on a busy evening.
Ingredients
For the filling
- 75g of butter, plus extra for greasing
- One large leek, sliced
- 50g of plain flour
- 600ml of hot whole milk
- One and a half tablespoons of chopped fresh dill
- Finely grated rind of half a lemon
- Salt and pepper
- 400g of hake fillet, skinned and cubed
- 400g of salmon fillet, skinned and cubed
- 200g of fresh spinach
For the topping
- 800g of new potatoes, scrubbed
- Two tablespoons of olive oil, plus two teaspoons for drizzling
Method
Start by greasing a 1.7 to two litre baking dish. In a large pan, melt 50g of the butter. Add the sliced leeks and cook for three minutes. Stir in flour and cook for one to two minutes.
Gradually whisk in hot milk and stir until thick. Add dill, lemon zest, salt and pepper.
Gently fold in the fish and cook on low for two minutes. Pour into a dish and cool slightly.
In a pan, wilt the spinach in the remaining butter. Drain, chop, and spread over the fish.
Boil the potatoes for 15 minutes before draining and crushing them. Use a fork, not a masher, to crush the potatoes as you want rough chunks, not puree. After, stir in the olive oil, salt, and pepper.
Spoon potatoes over spinach and fish. Always let the fish mixture cool slightly before adding the potatoes to prevent sinking and keep the texture right.
Finish off by drizzling the top with olive oil and bake at 200C/180CFan/Gas Mark 6 for 30 to 40 minutes until golden and bubbling.
