Why Do You Pre Cook The Fish For The Nursery Fish Pie?

Asked by flakyfoont. Answered on 22nd February 2023

Full question

Is it really necessary to cook the fish for the Nursery Fish Pie beforehand? Surely 30 to 40 minutes in the oven is more than enough? If precooked why not just cook it until the topping is as browned as you want it and no more? I love this recipe and put cooked pancetta and onions in the base of the pie.

Nursery Fish Pie

By Nigella

Our answer

Nigella's Nursery Fish Pie (from FEAST is a comforting dish containing haddock and smoked haddock. It harks back to the days of British "nursery" food.

The two fishes are cooked initially by poaching them in milk that is also flavoured with bay leaves and peppercorns. There are two reasons for this. The first is that the fish flavour infuses into the milk (particularly the smoked haddock), giving a better overall flavour to the sauce and the pie. The second reason is that if you put the raw fish into the cooked sauce and then bake it, the fish juices come out during cooking and dilute the sauce, making it thinner and runnier, and affecting the consistency of the finished dish. If you use hot fish, sauce and mashed potatoes then the pie only needs to be cooked long enough to brown the top. In the recipe Nigella mentions this and suggests around 20 minutes to just brown the top of the pie.