I’m from England, and Shepherd’s Pie—a casserole of ground meat, veggies, and mashed potatoes—is my heritage. There’s also Fisherman’s Pie, and I’m guessing you’ve never made that one, so here’s my basic recipe. Feel free to change it up a bit to match your tastes, just as you would any Shepherd’s Pie recipe.

The bottom layer is a creamy mixture of common veggies and fish or fish and shellfish. All of that is then topped with mashed potatoes and a sprinkle of cheese, with the only spices being salt and pepper. Remember to use a nice white fish, no tilapia, no salmon—cod or halibut are the best choices, and make sure it’s fresh! Don’t cook with anything smelly—smelly fish is not good fish.

Polly’s Fisherman Pie

INGREDIENTS

• 2½ lbs russet potatoes
• Salt
• 2½ lbs fish and/or shellfish—I use half cod and half shrimp, or half scallops and half shrimp.
• ¼ cup butter
• 1 cup chopped onions
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1 cup chopped carrots
• ½ cup flour
• 2½ cups warm milk
• ¼ cup minced parsley
• 1 cup frozen peas
• Pepper
• Approximately 2 Tablespoons butter
• Approximately ¼ cup milk
• ½ cup grated cheddar cheese

DIRECTIONS

1. Peel and cube potatoes—put pototoes into a large saucepan, cover with cold water, add a tsp of salt and bring to a boil. Boil for about 20 minutes or until tender.
2. Meanwhile, cut fish into 1″ chunks, then set aside.
3. Preheat oven to 400°.
4. Melt butter in a large frying pan over medium heat on the stovetop, then add chopped onions to pan and sauté for 2 minutes.
5. Add in celery and carrots and sauté for 3 more minutes.
6. Heat milk in the microwave for 3 minutes.
7. Stir flour into veggies in pan, stirring constantly over medium heat for 3 minutes—do this while milk is heating in the microwave.
8. Remove frying pan from heat and slowly stir in warm milk half a cup at a time, completely incorporate each addition of milk (so there are no lumps) before adding more milk. When all milk has been incorporated, return mixture to burner over medium heat.
9. Stir in ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper, then taste. Add more salt and pepper if needed.
10. Stir in ¼ cup diced parsley, fish/shellfish, and frozen peas to veggie mixture then pour the whole thing into the bottom of a 13x9x2″ casserole pan.
11. Drain cooked potatoes, stir in butter, milk, salt and pepper to taste, then mash.
12. Spoon the mashed potatoes over the fish/veggie mixture in the casserole dish, then smooth with a small spatula.
13. Sprinkle cheese on top of potatoes, and place in a 400° oven—bake for 30 minutes.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen today—and it just occurred to me, I don’t have a Shepherd’s Pie recipe posted! Well, not yet anyway—stay tuned!