A superb English dish – two perfectly complementing fishes.
Ingredients
- 400 g boneless, skinless cod fillets
- 300 g boneless, skinless salmon fillets
- 300 ml milk
- 1 bay leaf
- 4 peppercorns
- 1 small onion, thinly sliced
- 40 g butter + extra for greasing the dish
- 40 g all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
- 150 ml heavy cream
- 2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
- 400 g puff pastry
- 1 egg, beaten
- salt and pepper
Optional sides:
- salad with tomatoes and vinaigrette
- boiled vegetables
Preparation
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius (390 degrees Fahrenheit). Grease a 1.2-liter capacity ovenproof dish with butter.
Place the cleaned fish in a skillet and pour in the milk. Add the bay leaf, peppercorns, and sliced onion. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for about 10 – 12 minutes.
Remove from heat and strain the milk into a measuring cup (discard peppercorns and bay leaf). If needed, add more milk to make up 300 ml of liquid. Divide the fish fillets into larger pieces, removing any bones.
For the béchamel sauce: Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat, add flour and cook, stirring constantly, for about 2 – 3 minutes. Remove from heat and gradually add 300 ml of milk, stirring thoroughly. Return the saucepan to heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the sauce thickens. Continue cooking for another 2 – 3 minutes until smooth. Add parsley, heavy cream, season with salt and pepper.
Place the fish in the ovenproof dish, then add the chopped hard-boiled eggs, season with salt and pepper. Pour over the béchamel sauce and gently mix.
Roll out the puff pastry to a thickness of about 3 mm, larger than the ovenproof dish. Trim the edges to get a strip about 1 cm wide. Moisten the edges of the dish with water and stick the trimmed pastry strip. Then dampen the attached pastry strip with water and stick the “lid” from the rest of the pastry. Press the edges of the pastry together, sealing them well. Brush the top and sides of the pastry with beaten egg. Pierce the pastry with a knife in 3 – 4 places (this prevents the pastry from getting soggy from underneath).
Place the casserole in the preheated oven and bake for 20 – 25 minutes. If the top of the casserole browns too much towards the end of baking, cover it loosely with foil.
