Everything fishy about this pie

Hello everyone! Hope the day’s been going well so far. I am still going strong with my resolve to eat healthy and be wise. But being a Bong means I can neither compromise on taste nor sustain on salads too long. Also, I love having fish every now and then.

But since I’m not allowed to have my normal quota of shorshe ilish/pabda, jhal, jhol, cutlet, so on and so forth, I am making do with an easy-to-do fish pie. It would be rather strange of you to live in the UK and not have had a pie, but they are traditionally known to be rather heavy. So, to make it healthy, I swapped potatoes with cauliflowers and cheddar with some low-fat feta cheese. It needs  few ingredients that are almost always in my pantry, takes little prep work so can be made on a weekday and is not too taxing either on your pocket or your body.

Serves: 4      Time to make: 45-50 min     Calories intake: c.200 kcal per serving

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic – finely chopped
• 1 medium onion – chopped
• 2 large handfuls of baby spinach
• 1/2 tomato – chopped
• 4tsp plain flour
• 250-300ml skimmed milk
• 1/2 cauliflower – cut into florets and steamed
• 2 white fish fillets – I used cod – skinned and cleaned
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 tsp paprika (optional)
• 1/2 tsp chilli flakes (optional)
• Low fat feta cheese – crumbled

Method

• Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 5
• Heat oil in a pan and fry the garlic over medium heat, then add the onion and fry until it softens. Season it before it changes colour with salt, pepper and paprika (opt.), then add the flour and stir continuously to cook for a minute
• Add milk and mix it so it doesn’t form any lumps. Stir continuously and bring to a boil to make a sauce. Add the fish fillets and stir into the mix; the fish will break into small pieces – cook this for another 1-2 mins
• Transfer half of the mix into an ovenproof dish and layer it with the spinach. Add the rest of the fish and sauce to this – it will make the spinach wilt.
• Top this mixture with the cauliflower florets in a layer and top it with the feta cheese to form a uniform layer on top, sprinkle the chopped tomato for colour and chilli flakes for an extra kick (opt.)
• Bake for 20-30 mins, until the top forms a golden brown layer

Serve immediately.  I had it on its own but you could have it with some baguette to lick off the creamy bits with or some peas for a healthier alternative. Simple, isn’t it?

The Bong in me loved it and I was hard-pressed to not go for seconds. Whoever said healthy food couldn’t be yummy, needs to try this one out! And if you do, please let me know if or how you liked it or what modifications you made to this.

Until next time,

Paulomi x