Fish & Prawn Pie

This isn’t really an Italian dish… but I had to put this in as it’s so delicious. It does have fennel in the bechamel sauce so I guess that makes it a little Italian

Recipe

Serves 4

Ingredients

Olive oil

2 white onions, chopped

1 large fennel, chopped

½ cup of vermouth or white wine

100g of butter

4 tablespoons of plain flour

3 cups of milk

8 small eshallots

20 green prawns, peeled

4 pieces of blue eye cod fillets (or other white fish like snapper) chopped into 3x3cm pieces

2 sheets of puff pastry

1 beaten egg with a splash of milk for egg wash

A bunch of dill

Method

1. In a frypan, heat the olive oil and gently sautee the chopped white onions and fennel until soft and golden (about 20 minutes)

2. Add the vermouth or white wine and reduce for 3 minutes

3. Melt the butter in a separate small saucepan, then add the flour and mix until frothy and smooth. Pour in the milk and continue to stir until a smooth bechamel sauce forms

4. Add the bechamel sauce to the onion and fennel mixture, and cook for another 5 minutes until you get a lovely creamy consistency.

5. In another pan, fry all the eshallots until golden

6. Spoon the bechamel sauce equally into 4 individual pie dishes

7. Place 5 prawns, 1 chopped fish fillet and 2 eshallots in each dish

8. Cut the puff pastry into pieces that match the pie dish, lay on a baking tray and brush with an egg wash

9. Bake the pie and the puff pastry for about 25 minutes (check the oven regularly until the fish and prawns are opaque and the pastry is golden)

10. To serve, add the chopped dill to the pie, alongside steamed or braised green beans and mashed potatoes

11.  Delizioso!