picture of a white dish containing prawns and other fish pie with a potato topping

Luxury Fish Pie with Rosti Caper Topping

This recipe is from The Delia Collection: Fish.

This is a perfect recipe for entertaining and wouldn't need anything to go with it other than a simple green salad.

The fish can be varied according to what's available as long as you have 2¼ lb (1 kg) in total.

The Delia Online Cookery School: Another way to cook fish is to shallow fry and you can watch how to do it in our video on this page.

Got a question on Delia's recipes? Ask Lindsey

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Challenging Rosti potato topping

Asked by: Bojack40

Hi Lindsey, I have just made the fish pie with rosti caper topping. I found peeling and grating the half cooked potato’s really a challenge. on the one hand they were cooked enough to pull off some of the skin easily, on the other a bit too soft for grating. My potato's were not huge and i cut them in half, so they were about 2-3” sq, and they were in for 12m. If i did them for less time, they would be easier to grate, but would the skins be stuck fast? Why not peel them before boiling? Regards, Andrew

Answered by Lindsey: Hello Andrew, Did you use Desiree Potatoes? We have some, so I have just checked this Rösti topping recipe using a whole potato 2 by 3 inches and large potato 2.5 by 5 inches cut in halved. Covered in boiling water, added some salt then brought back to the boil, put a lid on and turned the heat down so that it was still boiling but not furiously and cooked then for 12 mins. Drained off the water, covered with a tea towel and left them for 15 minutes. Then using a small sharp knife, I peeled of the papery skins away fairly easily and just used the knife here and there where the skin was more resistant and there were some rougher bits of skin. Then I grated them pressing quite firmly. The gratings are identifiable but a bit flourier near the cut edges. If you didn’t use Desiree that could be a reason. I think keeping the skins on gives a better result overall, but you could cook them less perhaps, with a little more use with the knife to help remove the peel. Kind regards Lindsey

Reheating Luxury Fish Pie

Asked by: kate

I made and cooked Delia's luxury fish pie with rosti potatoes and then froze it. I'm currently defrosting the cooked pie for tonight. I didn't read the bit that said freeze uncooked. Is it going to be ok? How long should i cook it for and at what temperature?

Answered by Lindsey: Hello, The sauce will probably be wetter and the fish a tad dryer but it is safe to eat. Once defrosted, I would bake it at 180C (160 fan) for about 40 minutes. Check that it’s piping hot, and if you can serve it onto warmed plates in the kitchen, using a slotted spoon, so if the sauce is watery you can avoid serving too much of the liquid. Best wishes Lindsey

Method

First of all, prepare the potatoes by scrubbing them, but leaving the skins on.

As they all have to cook at the same time, if there are any larger ones cut them in half. Then place them in a saucepan with enough boiling, salted water to barely cover them and cook them for 12 minutes after they have come back to the boil, covered with the lid. Strain off the water and cover them with a clean tea cloth to absorb the steam.

Meanwhile, heat the wine and fish stock in a medium saucepan, add the bay leaf and some seasoning, then cut the halibut in half if it's a large piece, add it to the saucepan and poach the fish gently for 5 minutes. It should be slightly undercooked. Then remove the fish to a plate, using a draining spoon, and strain the liquid through a sieve into a bowl.

Now rinse the pan you cooked the fish in, melt the butter in it, whisk in the flour and gently cook for 2 minutes. Then gradually add the strained fish stock little by little, whisking all the time. When you have a smooth sauce, turn the heat to its lowest setting and let the sauce gently cook for 5 minutes. Then, whisk in the crème fraîche, followed by the cornichons, parsley and dill. Give it all a good seasoning and remove it from the heat.

To make the rösti, peel the potatoes and, using the coarse side of a grater, grate them into long shreds into a bowl. Then add the capers and the melted butter and, using two forks, lightly toss everything together so that the potatoes get a good coating of butter. Now remove the skin from the white fish and divide it into chunks, quite large if possible, and combine the fish with the sauce.

Next, if you're going to cook the fish pie more or less immediately, all you do is add the raw scallops and prawns to the fish mixture then spoon it into a well-buttered baking dish. Sprinkle the rösti on top, spreading it out as evenly as possible and not pressing it down too firmly. Then, finally scatter the cheese over the surface and bake on a high shelf of the oven for 35-40 minutes.

If you want to make the fish pie in advance, this is possible as long as you remember to let the sauce get completely cold before adding the cooled white fish and raw scallops and prawns. When the topping is on, cover the dish loosely with clingfilm and refrigerate it until you're ready to cook it.

Then give it an extra 5-10 minutes' cooking time.