Fish Pie Surprise

When I was a kid, every boulangerie sold "des Surprises", equivalents of  "lucky bags". Large, tall cones brightly decorated, filled mostly with shredded paper, a few sweets, plastic gadgets, necklaces, bits and bobs. You never knew what you were going to get, hence the name. They costs next to nothing and brought lots of joy. Until one day an adult decided that all these "bricoles" were of no-value that I was to old for such trivialities and I never got any more Surprises.

And as nostaligia is going to be the trend of spring and summer food 2013 collections, I decided to recreated the feeling. Don't worry, I am not going to dish up a whole fish pie in a paper cone. Never having cooked a fish pie and unable to decide which recipe was best for Happy Healthy Hearts weekly challenge, I decide to get one bit from here, a bob from there, different coloured fish with various textures, from the yellow of the smoke haddock to the pink of the salmom. I ask a couple of friends to share the Fish Pie Surprise, as I did with my childhood Surprises. The only thing which was for certain was the topping: mash potatoes with olive oil.

Fish Pie Surprise

For the topping you will need
1 kg of potatoes, cooked in boiling water until tender, then peeled, mashed and add a good gulp of olive oil.

For the pie,
Take a oven dish large enough for 4, grate 1 peeled carrot, 200g of cheddar, top with a mixture of 400g of white fish, salmon, smoked haddock, lots and lots of parsley, a squeeze of lemon, I happened to have a rest of tomato + onion + chilli sauce in the fridge which I added to the mix.

Don't forget the salt and pepper, pour some olive oil on the top, mix the lots with your bare hands. Top with the mash.

Cook in the oven (pre-heated 200C) for 45 minutes.

For more ideas to meet the Happy Healthy Hearts challenge and cook fish twice a week, have a look below: