• Snoek and cottage pie are undoubtedly two of South-Africans’ favourite dishes to dig into, and we can’t blame you. We’ve put two-and-two together and the result is this mouth-watering snoek cottage pie.

    Snoek cottage pie

    Serves: 6
    Total Time: 1 hour 15 min

    Ingredients

    • The filling:
    • 550 grams lightly smoked snoek
    • 100 grams butter, melted
    • 1 lemon, juiced
    • 2 tsp minced garlic
    • 1/2 onion, finely chopped
    • 100 grams brown mushrooms, sliced
    • 50 grams fresh peas
    • 50 grams corn
    • ½ cup cream
    • 1 ½ cup milk
    • 3 tbsp flour
    • 1/2 tsp nutmeg
    • Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
    • The potato topping:
    • 1 kg potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
    • 2-3 tbsp butter
    • 1/2 cup cream or milk
    • Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
    • To serve
    • freshly chives, chopped

    Instructions

    The filling:

    1

    HEAT a pan over medium heat. Add 1 tbsp of butter and the snoek and drizzle with lemon juice. Cook until done. Set it aside to cool slightly. Flake the snoek and remove the bones and skin.

    2

    ADD the remaining butter into a pot over medium high heat. Add the garlic and onion and cook until soft and translucent. Add the mushrooms, peas and corn and cook for 5 minutes.

    3

    WHISK the milk, cream and flour together in a bowl and add to the onion mixture. Stir continually to make sure lumps don’t form. Simmer for 2-3 minutes. Once the sauce is thick, add the flaked snoek and stir to combine. Season. Spoon the mixture into an ovenproof casserole or serving dish.

    4

    PREHEAT the oven to grill.

    The potato topping:

    5

    COOK the potatoes in a pot of salted until tender.

    6

    DRAIN the potatoes.

    7

    MASH the potatoes. Add the butter and enough cream or milk to make the mash soft but not runny. Continue to mash until smooth. Season to taste

    8

    SCOOP the mash onto the filling. You can grill it to get a nice golden and crispy top to your cottage pie

    Notes

    Food team tip: If the mixture seems too thick, loosen it a bit with more milk.

    ALSO SEE: Nthabi Seemela’s one-pot chicken and rice dish

    Nthabi Seemela’s one-pot chicken and rice dish