Few meals, indeed few things in life, are as comforting and reassuring as a fish pie, piping hot from the oven, says Hugh.

And I’ve recently discovered that adding some gently sweated onion and a good whack of curry powder to my usual recipe produces a startlingly good result.

You could, of course, leave out the curry-flavoured onion to make a classic fish pie, but I would urge you to give this one a go.

If you don’t fancy pastry, top the pie with mashed potato instead (page 176, Every Day).

Directions:

Put the fish fillets in a pan and add the milk, vegetables, bay leaf and peppercorns.

Serves four to six:

For the fish:

Two fillets (about 600g) of firm white fish, such aspollack or coley
200g smoked pollack or kippers
750ml whole milk
One onion, roughly chopped
One large carrot, roughly chopped
1 celery stalk, roughly chopped
1 bay leaf
A few peppercorns

For the pie:

75g unsalted butter
75g plain flour
One tablespoon sunflower or groundnut oil
One large onion, finely chopped
One tablespoon fairly hot curry powder or curry paste
One to two handfuls of cooked
peeled prawns (optional)
One tablespoon chopped coriander
250g puff pastry
A little beaten egg for glazing
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Place over a low heat. As soon as the milk comes to a simmer, switch off the heat and cover the pan. The fish will carry on cooking in the hot milk.

After about 5 minutes, it should be just cooked through; if not, leave it in the hot milk for a little longer, then drain in a sieve placed over a bowl, reserving the milk.

Discard the vegetables, bay leaf and peppercorns. Now make a béchamel sauce: melt the butter in a saucepan, add the flour and stir well to make a roux.

Cook gently for a couple of minutes, stirring every few seconds, then gently whisk in a third of the fishy milk. Add another third of the milk, whisking all the time, and then the final third, so that you end up with a smooth, creamy sauce.

Season with salt and pepper, turn the heat down low and cook very gently for 2 minutes. Peel the skin off the fish, check for any bones and gently break the flesh into chunks.

Heat the oil in a saucepan, add the onion and cook gently for about 5 minutes, until translucent and soft. Stir in the curry powder or paste and cook for another 5 minutes or so.

Add the curry-flavoured onion to the béchamel, then stir in the flaked fish, the prawns, if using, and the coriander.

Taste the sauce and add more salt, pepper or curry powder/paste if you think it needs it. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured work surface and cut it to fit the top of the dish.

Put the filling into the dish. Dampen the rim of the dish, lift the pastry over the filling and press down the pastry edges to seal.

Brush with a little beaten egg and place in an oven preheated to 200°C/Gas Mark 6. Bake for about 30 minutes, until the pastry is golden and puffed and the fishy sauce is bubbling underneath.

Serve with buttered peas or greens.

Curried Fish Pie is one of many recipes which appear in Hugh's latest book, Every Day, available signed by the man himself in the River Cottage online shop. You can also currently save £7.50.