Fish Pie for Babies, Toddlers and the Whole Family

There's something about fish pie which is great when it's so cold outside.  It's a warming cuddle of a dish.

The observant reader may realise I've posted a fish pie recipe before but frankly it wasn't a great recipe.  It was too vague.  I have to apologise.  You learn as you go on with blogging and it's always difficult to write a recipe for something you've always carried in your head.

So, I've finally got back round to writing this recipe and I've included some suggestions for babies too if you're going down the traditional weaning route but this is pretty good as a 'mashed' food for older babies too.

Fish Pie - Serves 2 adults and 1 toddler with quantities given

Ingredients

120g Fresh or frozen salmon
150g White fish, fresh or frozen (I use pollock)
3 Potatoes (approx 600 - 700g), peeled
350ml Full fat milk
40g Smoked salmon trimmings (omit for babies as it bumps up the salt)
1 Tbsp Cornflour
70g Vintage or extra mature cheddar
20g Parmesan or Grana padano (or more cheddar)

Method

Cut the potatoes into chunks and boil until soft, approx 22-24 mins.

If you're using frozen fish, look at the pack instructions, chances are you could poach from frozen, if not, defrost them first.  Either way, heat the fish in the milk until it is cooked and flakes easily.

Scoop out the fish.  Mix the cornflour with a dash of water then pour into the warm milk stirring all the time.  Continue to heat until it thickens.  Add in half of the cheddar and take off the heat.

Assemble by mixing the flaked fish, smoked fish and sauce together.  Pour into a baking dish.

Mash the potato (I use a potato ricer as it guarantees it's lump free).  Top the saucy fish with the mash and then put the remaining cheeses on top.

Bake in a preheated oven at 180oC for 20-30 minutes (my oven took nearer 20) or until the sauce is bubbling, everything is hot through and it's lovely and golden on top.

This is a dish for traditional vegetable accompaniments.  I'm thinking boiled broccoli, sweetcorn, carrots, that kind of thing.  Lovely when you're needing warming up after all that snowman building.

The reason I used smoked salmon trimmings is because they are ridiculously cheap from supermarkets. You can freeze them too and they add a lovely smokey flavour without much cost.  Also it's great to have the mix of salmon and pollock because both are a source of Omega 3 'good fats'.

To make this baby friendly, miss out the smoked salmon.  For young babies who are on pureed food, puree the fish with some potato, sauce, cheese and a floret of broccoli, maybe an extra splash of milk if it's too thick, there's no need to bake it because everything is cooked.  For older babies on mashed food, puree the fish with the sauce then add in the mashed potato and mash up some broccoli.  As they get even better with texture, you can finely flake the fish and do the same.