Snapper Pie

Snapper Vegetable Pie

Makes 4 medium pies or a large family pie

Ingredients

• 500g snapper cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 cup kumara, peeled and diced
• 1 carrot, sliced on the angle
• ½ cup each frozen peas and corn
• 1 cup cauliflower, cut into small florets
• 400-600g flaky puff pastry.

Cheese sauce

• 45g butter
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 2½ tbsp flour
• 1½-2 cups milk, warmed
• 1 cup grated cheese
• Salt and pepper to taste.

Method

• Preheat oven to 200°C
• Cook kumara, carrot and cauliflower in salted boiling water for five minutes or until al-dente, then add peas and corn and continue to cook for a further two minutes. Drain and set aside.
• To make the cheese sauce, melt the butter and garlic, and sauté for one minute. Add the flour and cook while stirring for another minute. Whisk in the warm milk until smooth and bring to the boil, still stirring constantly until the mixture thickens. Stir through ¾ cup of cheese and season to taste with salt and ground pepper. Place a piece of Gladwrap/cling-film directly onto the cheese sauce; this stops it forming a skin. If the mixture is too thick when you go to use it, add a little more milk.
• Roll out the pastry to fit your pie dishes. You can use a pie maker, muffin tin or mini tinfoil lasagne dishes – or make one large family pie. For all of the above pie dishes, apart from the pie maker, the pastry will need to be blind baked. To blind bake: Fit the pastry to your dish, cover with baking paper, then add dry rice/pasta or baking weights so the bottom is covered and sufficiently weighed down. Bake for 10 minutes, remove the baking paper and weights, and return the empty pie shells to the oven for a further one minute to dry the pastry out.
• Fill your pastry shell with the vegetables, place the diced fish on top, and cover with cheese sauce. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and bake for 20 minutes or until golden on top. If using a pie maker, add all the ingredients, including the cheese you would sprinkle on top, place your top sheet of pastry on, close the lid and let the pie maker work its magic. Enjoy with a fresh garden salad or simply on its own.