Easy fish pie with colcannon

Fish pie recipe

The fisherman’s pie is a close cousin to the shepherd’s pie, but with a creamy seafood stew centre instead of savoury mince. This easy fish pie is a fantastic warming dish for cold nights, so it’s no surprise that it has its origins in Britain - the home of hearty comfort foods. With a rugged coastline and a love of fresh seafood, the British are renown for their classic fish recipes, though there is some controversy over whether Scotland, England or Ireland is the true home of the fisherman's pie. Regardless of where this creamy fish pie originated, it has now become a firm favourite across the globe, including in Australia.

The beauty of this recipe is that it can be made with either fresh or frozen seafood – whichever is available – with the stew comprised of a classic white sauce base and white wine, eggs, peas or other vegetables.  While fish pie is usually topped with fluffy potato mash, in this version we’ve bulked up the mash with spinach for a cheat’s colcannon: a traditional Irish dish of mashed potato mixed with cabbage or kale. It’s a great way to sneak some extra veggies onto your plate.

Ingredients you need to make fish pie

For this recipe for fish pie to live up to its name, we’ve taken a few simple shortcuts. The process starts with an ovenproof frying pan or French pan as the stew requires stove-top cooking, and is finished off in the oven. First, fry off the white part of the spring onions until they’re soft. To save time and energy on creating a white sauce from scratch, this recipe uses a bottled carbonara sauce, to which frozen peas are added, stirred and simmered for a few minutes. The next step is to add the thawed marinara mix and cubed salmon pieces into the simmering sauce, and season to taste. For another handy time saver, the recipes calls for pre-made mashed potato – mix in the green part of your spring onions and spinach to create your cheat’s colcannon. Spread the colcannon across the top of the seafood mixture and bake until it’s heated through, creating a golden brown, fluffy pie topping. Serve with your favourite vegetables or a crunchy side salad.

What types of fish to use in fish pie

The most important ingredient when making a fish pie is of course, the fish, as the type you choose will change the flavour considerably. Many traditional fish pies use smoked fish, or a combination of smoked and unsmoked. Smoked fish gives a strong flavour, so keep in mind that using a smoked fish like cod will define the main flavour of the pie, even when paired with other fresh fish.

Choose a fatty fish like salmon, which is rich in omega three, to give the fish pie a lovely, mild buttery flavour, or go with a white fish like perch, ling or basa for a slightly more fishy flavour. You can add any seafood you like to this pie, from prawns and mussels to scallops. This recipe uses a seafood marinara mix from the deli to add a good mix of texture and flavour.

Now get cooking

This tasty fish pie is the ultimate comfort dish and is so easy to create thanks to some handy shortcuts. If you’ve got a little extra time and love fish pie, try our pastry-topped seafood chowder pie or our veggie-packed salmon and veggie pot pies. Want more fish recipes? Consider our crispy lemon fish with pea hommus, or choose from this collection of fish mains. If it’s pie you’re after, try our quick shepherd’s pie, a meatball cottage pie or, for something a little different, a beef korma cottage pie with sweet potato topping.