Last winter I was inspired. I love all seafood, but my beloved only eats fish and I was running out of ways to prepare salmon (his favorite). We have always loved a good pot pie so I decided to put together a salmon pie. There are lots of fish pie recipes on the web, after perusing a number of them I decided to strike out on my own and cobble together something that used the ingredients I had on hand. It came out great. Since then, I’ve been tweaking and refining. This is my favorite version – but feel free to add your own touches. This dish is also great for leftovers, it reheats beautifully.

• 1 ¹⁄₂ lb fillet of salmon
• 3 medium potatoes peeled and quartered
• 2 stalks of celery finely chopped
• 1 small red onion finely chopped
• 3 leeks (white parts only) halved down the center and finely sliced
• 1 clove of garlic minced
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup white wine or sherry
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley
• ¹⁄₄ cup of milk
• packaged pie crust

Preheat oven to 350°

Grease a large casserole dish and place salmon, skin side down, into the dish. Season with salt and pepper. Place in the oven and cook for approximately 20 minutes. Salmon should be able to flake apart with fork but still be very moist. Set cooked salmon aside.

While salmon is in the oven, put a large pot of water on to boil and add tablespoon of salt to the water to season. Peel and quarter potatoes. When water starts to boil, add potatoes. Cook about 20 minutes, until tender. Drain the potatoes in a colander and then place in a large bowl. Add 2 tablespoon of butter and a ¹⁄₄ cup on milk to the potatoes and mash the potatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

In a large sautee pan over medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon of butter, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and swirl to cover the pan. Add the onion, leeks, garlic, celery and cook until tender (about 10 minutes). Add the wine to the pan. Let cook for 1 minute and stir to incorporate. Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper and herbs.

In a pie plate, arrange the bottom crust. If you are ambitious, I’m sure a homemade crust would be wonderful. I use a ready-made crust and it’s still good.

Add the wine and veggie mixture to the mashed potatoes. Flake the salmon and add this to the mashed potato bowl as well. Stir to combine ingredients. Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed.

Raise oven temp to 375°

Scrape the potato/veggie/salmon mixture into the waiting pie crust. Spread it evenly. Place the top crust on top. seal and crimp the edges and cut holes in the top to vent. Place in the center of the oven and cook 20 minutes, until crust is lightly golden. Serve with a green salad and enjoy.