Ahead of National Pie Day (23rd January for non-aficionados), we have cooked up our current favourite savoury pie – filo and fish pie. This simple pie has only pastry atop, so there is no running the risk of a soggy bottom and no need to pre-bake any pastry. We love the contrast against the soft fish against the fine crunch of the filo.

The fish used can be of your choosing, as long as you have sufficient weight. There are many readily available seafood mixes at supermarkets if you don’t know what to choose. We used a combination of cooked squid, muscles and prawn with some uncooked fillets of salmon, cut up.

The recipe serves four accompanied with steamed new potatoes and green vegetables.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

• 800g mixed seafood – in bitesized pieces
• 100g butter
• 1 medium onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tbsp (heaped) plain flour
• 50ml white wine
• 200ml fish stock
• 75g gruyere cheese – grated
• 25g fresh dill – finely chopped
• 1 packet of Jus-Rol filo pastry sheets (12)
• 2 tbsp dried tarragon

Recipe:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC.
2. Finely chop the onion and gently cook with half the butter in a medium-sized saucepan over a low-medium heat until the onion has softened but not coloured. 
3. Finely chop the garlic and add to the pan with the onion and cook for a further couple of minutes.
4. Stir in the flour until the onions and garlic are coated and the flour has started to cook out – this should only take about 1 minute. Add the dill and grated Gruyère. Then combine the wine and fish stock and pour into the saucepan, stirring continuously until a thick, smooth sauce has formed – this should only take about a minute, so don’t take your eyes off the pot! The aroma at this point will be reminiscent of fondu (from the combination of wine and cheese melting) – yum!
5. Add the mixed seafood and stir through for a minute or two. If you’re using a mix of raw and cooked seafood, add the raw first, cook through for a couple of minutes and then add the pre-cooked. The raw fish will not be completely cooked, but will finish in the oven. Transfer to a square baking dish. 
6. Melt the remaining butter and dried tarragon together in the microwave for 40 – 50 seconds. Brush each of the filo sheets with the tarragon butter, crumple and top the fish pie.  
7. Put in the oven and cook for 20 – 25 minutes or until the filo is bronzed and crispy. Serve still hot with some steamed vegetables.