A Socially Distanced Valentine’s Day Celebration At Home

Deconstructed Fish Pie Recipe with Charlotte Mei

Just in case January zoomed right by for you (as it did for me), here’s a reminder that Valentine’s Day is just around the corner!

Whether or not you celebrate it, it’s always a good time to express your love and gratitude to the special people in your life! As a nation of food lovers, why not use this opportunity to cook up something delicious for your loved one (or ones)!

Here’s a super easy recipe that you can whip up in a jiffy at home. All you need is a large pot and an oven (a small toaster oven would work fine for this too!). Not only is this dish easy to put together, it is also delicious and is packed full of protein and omega-3 fats.

Omega-3 fats are essential fatty acids that are good for the maintenance of heart health, and they are necessary in our diet. When it comes to meeting one’s requirement for omega-3 fats, many rely on supplements; however, that isn’t necessary if you have a regular intake of fatty fish like mackerel, salmon and sardines. There are plant-based sources of omega-3 fats too, like flax seeds and walnuts, however they are not as well-absorbed as those found in animal sources. It is recommended to consume fish (particularly fatty fish) at least twice a week. Canned fish count too, just make sure to read the ingredients list and nutrition label to check that they don’t contain too much salt. There are a few low-sodium versions available in supermarkets.

Deconstructed Fish Pie

Serves 3

Ingredients

• 6 large filo pastry sheets
• Olive oil, for brushing and cooking
• 200g crème fraîche
• 1 onion, chopped
• Juice of 1/2 lemon, and its zest
• 1 red chilli padi (birds eye chilli), finely chopped
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 6 medium-sized prawns, peeled
• 100-120g smoked salmon, sliced
• 200g salmon, chopped to rough chunks
• 3-4 tbsp water/lemon juice
• 1 cup baby spinach (if frozen, use about 70g)
• Dill, to garnish

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Scrunch up each filo sheet, brush thoroughly with olive oil, and bake for 5-8 minutes until golden brown.
3. Meanwhile in a pan over a gentle heat, fry onions till soft. Add the crème fraîche, zest and juice of ½ lemon, sliced chilli and Dijon mustard.
4. Bring it to a light simmer and stir in the seafood to cook. If the sauce looks to be drying up, you can add 3-4 tbsp of water, or lemon juice if you like it on the tangy side like I do!
5. When almost done, add the spinach. Stir through until the spinach wilts, and remove from the heat.
6. Stir through a handful of fresh dill and serve alongside a piece of crisp filo pastry and some additional sliced chilli padi if you’d like some extra heat!

Notes

• Keep the filo sheets chilled in the fridge until you start working on them. They dry out easily if left out!
• Dried chilli flakes would work fine if you don’t have fresh chillies. Use what you have at home!
• You don’t need to splurge on salmon fillets for this. Get salmon trimmings at the supermarket or speak to your fishmonger at the wet market – trimmings work perfectly well and it’s friendlier on the wallet too.
• Instead of salmon, you can use other fleshy fish like barramundi too.
• If you don’t have spinach at home, you can use frozen peas to replace it.

Charlotte Mei

A Nutritionist by training, Charlotte Mei is a media personality, a self-taught cook, and an all-round advocate of sustainable living. Her mission is simple: to get more people into the kitchen and get them interested in what they eat!

Her content channel TheCharlotteMei shares fuss-free recipes, city food tours, and nuggets of tips for living and eating more mindfully. She has hosted food programmes such as ‘Crave’ on Channel 5, and helmed the evening drive time radio show ‘Your Evening Escape’ and food podcast ‘Crave’ on 938NOW (now known as CNA 938).

Today, she continues to create content on her social media platforms on food, health, and sustainability, and will be contributing to Breathe’s community too.  She enjoys Pilates, especially when it challenges her core and upper-body strength. Her favourite moves include rows on the Reformer and inversions on the Cadillac! Catch her latest news on www.thecharlottemei.com and Instagram (@thecharlottemei).