Individual Fish Pies Recipe

Lift the golden, flaky puff pastry lid of these fish pies to reveal moist, tender chunks of fish and slices of leek in a creamy lemon and white wine sauce.

We have used both snapper and flathead in this recipe. The fish we purchased was not skinned and still contained bones; we bought 800g to yield the 700g of skinless, boneless fish needed for this recipe.

Makes 4 individual pies.

40g (2 tablespoons) butter
1 large leek, white and pale green part finely sliced (about 160g of sliced leek)
2 tablespoons plain flour
2 tablespoons (40ml) white wine
2 tablespoons (40ml) lemon juice
2/3 cup (160ml) thickened cream (35 to 40 percent fat)
Salt and pepper, to taste
700g white fish fillets (without skin or bones) cut into bite-sized pieces
24g (1/3 cup) grated parmesan cheese
1-2 tablespoons finely chopped parley
2 sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed (we use sheets that measure about 25cm by 25cm)

Preheat oven to 210 degrees Celsius (190 degrees Celsius fan-forced).

Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Add leek and cook for a few minutes until softened, stirring occasionally. If the leek starts to brown before it has softened, reduce the heat to low.

Add flour to pan and cook over medium heat, stirring, for about one minute.

Stir in white wine and lemon juice. Add cream and cook, stirring occasionally, until sauce simmers and thickens. Season with salt and pepper.

Add fish pieces, parmesan cheese and parsley and stir gently until just combined. Remove from heat. The filling may seem a little dry at this stage, but the fish will release a lot of moisture as it cooks in the oven.

We used four 1 cup (250ml) capacity ramekins (small ovenproof dishes) for our pies. Using an upturned ramekin as a guide, cut four pie lids from the pastry sheets, cutting about 1cm larger than the ramekin.

Cut 2cm wide strips of pastry to form borders around the ramekins. Brush the edges of the ramekins with water and press the pastry strips around the rims of the ramekins (see photo below).

Divide filling mixture evenly between dishes.

Brush pastry borders with water and place lids on top of pies. Cut away excess pastry using a sharp knife.

Firm down edges of pastry with fingers or a fork. Cut a 2cm cross in the pastry lids with a sharp knife.

Place ramekins on an oven tray to catch any sauce that might overflow when the pies are cooking. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until pastry is golden and fish is cooked. © www.exclusivelyfood.com.au