an oblong pie dish full of smoked salmon filling and a potato topping with a piece taken out of the corner

Christmas Eve Hot Smoked Salmon Pie

30 minutes - 40 minutes

Serves 4

This recipe is from Delia's Happy Christmas.

This would be a good choice for Christmas Eve supper – done and dusted in the morning, or even the day before, then just whisked out of the fridge and into the oven.

Fresh, shelled, imported peas involve no work and make an excellent accompaniment, as does stem broccoli with a generous sprinkling of Parmesan.

The Delia Online Cookery School: For perfect hard boiled eggs, watch our video showing you how to get them just right. Click the recipe image to play.

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Method

First steam the potatoes sprinkled with 1 teaspoon of salt for about 25 minutes, until they are absolutely tender, then drain off the water and return them to the saucepan and cover with a clean tea towel for 4 minutes.

Then add the butter, milk and creme fraiche and use an electric whisk on slow speed to break up the potatoes then increase it to high and whip them up to a smooth, creamy, fluffy mass, then add some seasoning.

Meanwhile, make the sauce; place the first four ingredients into a small saucepan, set it over a gentle heat. Whisk continually until you have a smooth, glossy sauce, and simmer very gently for 5 minutes. Then add the rest of the ingredients. Whisk again and season.

Now preheat the oven to 200℃/gas mark 6

Next take the skin off the salmon and break it into largish pieces, directly into the dish, then tuck the egg in among them. Pour the sauce over the salmon. Now spoon blobs of mashed potato, using a palette knife to spread it evenly over the surface and then make some indentations to form a pattern. Just run the palette knife in lines, pressing it down at 2.5cm intervals. Sprinkle the two cheeses all over the top, then place the dish on a baking tray and bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes, or until the surface is golden brown and the sauce underneath is bubbling.

Leave the pie to settle for 10 minutes out of the oven while you cook the vegetables to go with it.