Seafood Pie with Leek, Garlic & Chives

Flaky pastry, creamy béchamel sauce and succulent seafood – what’s not to love about a creamy seafood pie?

Ingredients

• 50g butter
• ½ leek, washed thoroughly, finely sliced
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• Salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 x 200g piece Ling fillet, skin off, pin-boned, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 x 200g piece Salmon fillet, skin off, pin-boned, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 100g green Prawns, peeled, deveined, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 2 tablespoons dry white wine
• 1 bunch chives, chopped
• 2 sheets ready-rolled butter puff pastry
• 1 egg, lightly beaten

Béchamel Sauce

• 1 tablespoon salted butter
• 1 tablespoon plain flour
• 200ml milk
• Pinch salt
• Pinch freshly grated nutmeg

Method

Make Béchamel Sauce: melt butter in a saucepan over a low heat. Add flour and stir for 2-4 minutes, until it turns sandy. Stirring constantly, gradually add the milk. Increase heat and stir until it boils and thickens. Remove from heat and stir in salt and nutmeg and set aside.

Melt butter in a frying pan over medium heat, stir in leek, garlic and a good pinch of salt, cover and cook for 5 minutes or so, stirring often, until soft but not coloured. Stir in fish and prawns, increase heat to high and cook for a minute or 2 until coloured all over. Stir in wine and chives and cook for a minute or so until wine boils. Remove from heat and stir in Béchamel Sauce. Taste and add salt and pepper. Set aside to cool.

Preheat oven to 220°C.

Roll out 1 sheet of pastry a little if necessary, place a 23cm pie dish upside down on it and cut around it allowing a 2cm margin. Repeat with remaining sheet. Butter and flour the pie dish, line with pastry. Cover pastry with baking paper, fill with dried beans or baking beads and bake for 10-15 minutes, until very lightly coloured.

Remove baking paper, place filling in the pie shell and brush edges of pastry with egg. Top with remaining disc of pastry and use a fork to press the edges together well to seal, cut 2 or 3 slashes in the pastry and bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden.

Notes

Alternative Species: Blue-eye Trevalla, Ocean Trout, Scallops.