This mackerel and spinach pie costs just £3 for 4 servings.

You can always find mackerel wearing a reduced sticker and it is one of the most underestimated and tastiest fish in our Supermarket. It is also very versatile and many a dish can be made with it, including the delicious mackerel and spinach pie I want to share with you today.

I previously made a smoked mackerel pate that was not only simple but it went down a treat. This mackerel and spinach pie is not the quickest meals but it is quite healthy with the spinach and I have left the skins on the new potatoes as this makes them richer in nutrients which are better for your health.

For this mackerel and spinach pie, you will need…

1 packet of smoked mackerel

packet of spinach

1 bag of new potatoes washed and chopped

25g butter

2 tsp salt

ROUX

40g butter

40g flour

1\2 pint of milk

1 tsp course mustard

1\2 tsp salt

black pepper

1\2 cup of cheese

Put the potatoes into some salted cold water and bring to the boil, let them simmer until they are soft enough to mash. Drain the water and add the butter, roughly mash and stand to the side to cool off. It is much better to add cooled potatoes as a topping rather than hot potatoes, as I always find that hot potatoes tend to sink into the sauce, rather than sit on top.

Melt the butter in a pan and add the flour, mix this together and then slowly add the milk.

Continue to whisk the milk into the sauce, until you have a smooth consistency , keep whisking as the sauce thickens up.

Add the cheese and mustard (I used a chunk of blue cheese that I had left over) and stir until it has all melted.

Remove the skin from the fish and put this into the sauce, the heat and the roux will make the fish break up.

Turn the heat to low and add the spinach to the roux, mix in and cover with a lid, if the sauce is too thick add half a cup of milk. The heat will make the spinach wither.

Transfer the roux into a pie dish and cover the top with the potatoes. Feel free to add some grated cheese to the top and even some stale brown bread to give it an extra crunch.

Place the pie into a pre heated oven on a medium heat and leave this to brown for around 30 minutes.

I served this with grated carrot, dill and lemon salad, but the children had it with baked beans.

Bon appetit! I really hope you enjoy my mackerel and spinach pie.

Spinach is such a versatile ingredient, I use it in many recipes including this one…