When I was at school in England we made Russian Fish Pies in cookery classes. Steamed white fish, chopped hard boiled eggs and parsley were mixed with a thick white sauce, encased in puff pastry and baked. At the time I thought it was delicious, but I now realise that the fish was over-cooked.
This recipe for Seafood Mornay uses raw seafood mixed into a thick sauce flavoured with cheese and sherry. Either top it with grated cheese and breadcrumbs or make it into pies. Both are delicious – the latter a bit more filling, but not too bad as they only have pastry on the top, not underneath. Either way the seafood is cooked al dente, the way it should be.
Seafood Mornay
Servings: 8
Ingredients
- 500 g firm white fish fillets no skin or bones
- 500 g salmon fillets no skin or bones
- 500 g peeled raw peeled prawns
- 3 Tbs breadcrumbs about one slice of bread whizzed in food processor
- 3 Tbs grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 Tbs parsley
Sauce
- 60 g butter
- 60 g plain flour about 2 very heaped Tbs
- 1½ cups milk
- ½ cup cream
- salt and pepper to taste
- pinch of nutmeg
- 2 Tbs sherry
- 150 g Gruyere cheese grated (you can substitute cheddar or Ementhal)
Instructions
- Cut fish into cubes about 2-3 cm square then place with prawns in a colander to drain while you make the sauce. Melt butter, add flour, cook for a minute then gradually add sherry, milk and cream. Add salt, pepper, nutmeg and cheese. Season generously because the seafood hasn’t been seasoned.
- Remove from heat as soon as cheese melts. The sauce will be very thick, but the fish will create juices as it cooks, especially if it’s been frozen, so you need a thick sauce to counteract this. If it seems unmanageably thick add a dash more milk. Mix sauce with seafood and place in one large buttered ovenproof shallow dish or 8-10 individual dishes.
- Preheat oven to 200°C. Mix Parmesan, breadcrumbs and parsley and sprinkle over. Mornays can be refrigerated, covered for up to 24 hrs or frozen, well-wrapped, for up to 2 months. If frozen, thaw before cooking.
- Bake for 30-40 mins until golden brown all over and bubbly. Serve as a main dish with a green vegetable such as beans or snow peas and rice or new potatoes.
Seafood Pies
Servings: 8 pies
Ingredients
- Seafood mixture see above
- 1 egg beaten
Sour Cream pastry
- 250 g plain flour
- 125 g butter
- ⅓ cup sour cream
- 1-2 Tbs cold water
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
- Place flour in food processor, add cold butter cut into pieces and process until fine crumbs. Add sour cream and salt and start motor again. Gradually add water through the chute with motor running. As soon as pastry forms a ball tip out and pat into a flat disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed.
- Preheat oven to 200°C. Divide fish mixture amongst 8-10 buttered dishes, such as soufflé dishes shown in photo which have a one cup (250ml) capacity. Fill almost level with the top. Roll out pastry on a floured surface and cut circles the diameter of dishes plus 2-3cm. Dampen edges of dishes, place pastry circles on top and press pastry on to seal. Cut a hole for steam to escape. Brush with beaten egg then bake for 30-40 mins or until golden brown and bubbling through the steam vent.
My mother in the UK is a meat, two veg and gravy person, so when I’m over there looking after her it is very difficult for me; I often make separate meals for me – and am DESPERATE for something spicy and interesting when I’m not with her. I have managed to progress her to lasagne, both the meat and vegetarian types, which she now has on the weekly menu. I make loads and freeze them when I leave to return to Oz. She isn’t averse to fish, so this COULD be a possibility. I will try it and let you know … anything that can be made in a large quantity and frozen is always good, except that she has only a small freezer.
Delicious and easy. Thank you
This is the best mornay recipe ever..just love it..thankyou
Glad to hear you like the recipe. I like the fact that the seafood isn’t overcooked.
Regards
Linda
I agree! It’s very popular on this blog. Gets lots of hits.
I’d like to give this a go.
Does the dish (seafood) have to be cooked prior to freezing?
If you use seafood which has been frozen and thawed, then in principle you should cook it before you freeze it again. However, if you thaw the seafood and make the mornays and freeze them uncooked, all in a short space of time, they should be fine. I have to admit to being guilty of refreezing things from time to time and I’m still here to tell the tale! What I often do is prepare the mornays in the morning and leave them in the fridge until I need to cook them for dinner guests. So all the work is done beforehand.
Have made this a couple of times now and both ave been amazing. Didn’t have sherry so used brandy and added fried garlic chips and parsley the second time cause I needed to use them up. Omg. Whole extra level. Thankyou so much
Sounds like you came up with a couple of great additions! The pies are good too.
I made this recipe last night and it turned out really good. The next time I think I would omit the salmon and possibly use scallops. The salmon flavor was a tad overwhelming, but still very good in the sauce was excellent. Thank you for the recipe.
You can use any combination of seafood you want. Scallops are great, just a bit expensive.