This recipe is a very quick and easy supper that may easily be adapted to feed any number of diners. When shopping this morning in my local supermarket (10 miles away!) I spotted that the hake fillets were on special offer and so bought some for this dish. However, any fish could be used for this dish really. A friend of mine with an aversion to fish bones asked me this morning how the bones could be removed before cooking. My advice was to gently flex each piece of fish to spot the bones and then just pick them out with a pair of tweezers. Easy!
The ingredients I have used would be sufficient to serve 4 people.
4 – 6 fish fillets (either frozen or fresh)
A couple of generous handfuls of mixed seafood (again, either frozen or fresh)
50g butter
50g plain flour
1 litre of milk
half an onion, finely chopped
salt, pepper and chopped parsley
fresh breadcrumbs to scatter on top of the fish and sauce
about 50g of cheese to grate onto the top of the bake
- place the raw fish and seafood in the bottom of a shallow casserole or baking dish
- preheat the oven to 200°C
- in a medium sized pan, melt the butter and fry the chopped onion for a few minutes until it is starting to soften
- add the plain flour to the pan and mix it with the butter and onion mixture for a minute or two until everything is blended
- pour about half of the milk into the pan and, using a hand whisk, mix everything together over a medium heat until the sauce starts to thicken
- add the rest of the milk and keep stirring until it is smooth and thickened
- season the sauce to taste and add the chopped parsley
- pour the sauce over the fish and then scatter the breadcrumbs and cheese over the top. It’s personal taste how much of this topping you use!
- place the dish into the preheated oven and bake for about 20 minutes until the top is golden brown and the sauce can be seen bubbling temptingly at the sides of the dish
Various additions may be made to the bake of course. A generous layer of spinach leaves on the bottom of the dish brings a bit of colour, as would a scattering of cherry tomatoes on top of the sauce. A few frozen peas added to the sauce before it is poured over the fish also brings colour. A layer of buttery mashed potato could be used for the topping instead of breadcrumbs. In fact, the more I think about it, the possibilities are endless…………..
Cakes, Bakes and Simple Suppers 