- You'll know your roux is ready when it starts to smell like freshly-baked cookies — this means the flour is cooked and won't taste raw.
- Cover the white sauce with baking paper while it cools, to stop a skin from forming and keep it smooth.
- You can use any firm white fish in this recipe, so feel free to substitute based on what's fresh or available.
- Any leftover pastry trimmings can be rolled into a ball and frozen for later use — perfect for future pies or small pastries!
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- 2 cloves
- ½ onion, cut into ¼ chunks
- 1½ cups (375ml) milk
- 2 bay leaves
- 35g butter
- 35g plain flour
- ½ cup (125ml) thickened cream
- Good rasp of freshly-grated nutmeg
- 1 tablespoon roughly-chopped dill
- 1 tablespoon roughly-chopped flat-leaf parsley
- Salt flakes, to season
- Freshly-cracked black pepper, to season
- 225g fillet firm-fleshed white fish, sliced into 3cm pieces (blue-eye, hapuka, or snapper)
- 225g smoked cod, flaked
- 175g prawns, cleaned and chopped into 1cm lengths
- 2 hard-boiled eggs, roughly chopped
- 2 sheets all-butter puff pastry
- 1 egg, beaten
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (200°C conventional).
- Stick 1 clove into each onion chunk and place in a small saucepan. Add the milk and bay leaves. Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for about 8 minutes. Strain the cooking liquid into a clean bowl, reserving milk and discarding solids.
- Melt the butter in a large saucepan over a low heat. Add the flour and cook, stirring for 1—2 minutes, until the flour smells like cookies. Add reserved milk and cook, stirring until the mixture starts to thicken. Add cream and simmer for 5 minutes. Rasp in the nutmeg, add the herbs, then season with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes on the bench. Once cooled gently stir through the fish, smoked cod, prawns and eggs. Transfer the fish mixture into a baking dish 22x27x5cm.
- Place a single large piece of pastry over the filling to cover the fish mixture, then use a fork to press around the edge of the dish to seal. Cut off any excess pastry and make shapes with it to decorate the pie (anything aquatic welcomed and encouraged). Cut 2 slashes in the top of the pie for steam. Brush pastry with egg and bake for 25 minutes, or until pastry has risen and looks golden.