My week of posts celebrating comfort foods from the British Isles continues with this delicious seafood pie. Like the the corned beef hash and bangers & mash recipes, it features cauliflower as a low carb alternative to the traditional potatoes.
This is by far my favorite of the three recipes so far. When I researched traditional fish pies I found that some contained mushrooms, peas, carrots and/or other things I either didn’t find appetizing, or that increased the carb count more than I wanted. I decided to put a New England spin on it using the flavors of our famed clam chowder as a base.
I added Shrimp, Salmon and Swai (mild tasting white fish) for my seafood. I love chowder and since it features chunks of potato I figured a cauliflower “crust” could stand in for the potato in this case – kind of a deconstructed thing. This “pie” has all the elements of a delicious chowder but also something I didn’t expect – the cheesy cauliflower puree that I used on top added a subtle sweetness that tasted exactly like buttery ritz crackers like you might find in a baked stuffed shrimp!!!
It wasn’t until the last couple of bites that I recognized the flavor, but when I did it was like some kind of miracle! It wasn’t just an ok sub for a mashed potato top, it was so good that even if I add potatoes back to my diet at some point, I’ll always make this dish this way – it’s that good! I have no idea why it works, but it does and I already can’t wait to make it again! Hope you guys like it and can’t wait to hear what you think!
It’s good. REALLY good! Enjoy!
Ingredients :
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 1/2 cup onion, chopped
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 1 cup shrimp stock (boil the shells, strain off liquid)
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1 slice raw bacon
- 1/4 tsp celery salt
- salt & pepper to taste
- 1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
- 4 oz salmon, 1 inch chunks
- 8 oz white fish, 1 inch chunks (swai, cod, haddock)
- 12 shrimp, peeled & de-veined
- 4 cups
Instructions :
- Combine butter and onion in a medium saucepan and cook on medium heat for several minutes until the onions have softened but not browned. Add the minced garlic and cook for about a minute. Pour in the white wine and shrimp stock (you can use chicken or veg stock if you don’t have it) and cook for about 5 minutes.
- Add the cream, raw bacon and celery salt and simmer for another 5 minutes until the bacon is cooked through and most of the fat is rendered out. (You can chop the bacon and add back to the chowder if you want but I didn’t because had already gotten the flavor into it but didn’t want the chewy texture so I just removed it.)
- Taste the broth and season with salt and pepper. Add the seafood and chopped parsley and simmer gently for just 2 – 3 minutes – you want it slightly underdone so it won’t overcook in the oven.
- At this point you can add the chowder to one larger casserole dish or four smaller ones. Put your cauli puree into a gallon sized ziploc bag or a pastry bag if you have one and pipe rosettes onto the top of the chowder. You can use a star tube if you have one but it isn’t necessary.
- Spray with nonstick spray or dot with small pieces of butter if you want and then bake it for 8 – 10 minutes at 400 degrees. If it’s not browning, don’t keep baking it or the seafood could get tough – just hit it under the broiler for another minute and it should toast right up.
- Garnish with more chopped parsley if desired.
