Serves 6. I would rate this recipe as for experienced and confident cooks.

I recently received a phone call from someone asking whether Swan & Lion makes this famous Cornish pie, which the answer was unfortunately no. A few days later I saw some lovely fresh sardines in the supermarket. The stars had aligned, it was the moment to make my first stargazey pie.

You can read more about the history of the stargazey pie here: https://www.swanandlion.com/stargazey-pie-story-english

Traditionally the pie is made with sardines, but you could also use small mackerel or other oily fish such as sanma. The fish need to be “butterflied”, so that the backbone has been removed but the head is still attached. Sardines I found pretty easy to prepare myself, but if you are not confident of doing this yourself, I suggest buying your fish from a good fish shop or supermarket that has someone that can do it for you. Many recipes include potatoes in the filling, but I wanted a lighter filling and omitted them, opting for some spinach instead. For flavour you can use dill, tarragon or parsley.

For this recipe I made a rough puff pastry, kind of in between shortcrust pastry and puff pastry. It is a really useful pastry to have in your baking arsenal. Alternatively you can use shop-bought puff pastry.

Equipment Needed:

• Oven
• Rolling pin (if making your pastry)
• Mixing bowls
• Saucepan
• Frying pan
• Oven proof dish, approximately 20cm x 25cm
• Star shaped pastry cutter (optional)
• Pastry brush for egg wash

Ingredients:

Method. First make the pastry:

1. Put the plain flour and 1 tsp fine sea salt into a large bowl. Add the butter to the bowl and rub them in loosely. You need to see bits of butter.
2. Make a well in the bowl and pour in about half of the cold water, mixing until you have a firm rough dough, adding extra water if needed.
3. Form the dough into a ball, cover with cling film and leave to rest for 20 mins in the fridge.
4. Put the dough onto a lightly floured board, knead gently and form into a smooth rectangle.
5. Roll the dough in one direction only, until 3 times the width, about 20 x 50cm. Keep edges straight and even.
6. Fold the top third down to the centre, then the bottom third up and over that. Give the dough a quarter turn (to the left or right) and roll out again to three times the length.
7. Repeat step 6, cover with cling film and chill for at least 20 mins before rolling to use.

Prepare the sardines (other fish):

1. Gut the fish and clean out the cavity well. With scissors cut off the fin on the top of the fish.
2. Open out the gutted fish and place, skin-side up, on your work surface. Holding the tail with one hand, firmly press along the backbone with the other until the fish is completely flat.
3. Turn the fish over. Cut off the tail, take hold of the backbone and gently pull it away from the flesh.
4. Keep pulling until you reach the head, then cut off the backbone with scissors and discard.
5. Scrape or cut away with a knife any remaining small bones on the sides.
6. Store the prepared fish in the fridge until use.

Make the pie filling:

1. Pre-heat oven to 200℃.
2. In a bowl, add the dashi bag and 250ml boiling water to make the fish stock. Allow to sit for 10 minutes. Remove the bag and discard.
3. Chop the spinach and wilt in a pan over gentle heat or in the microwave for a minute or two in a covered container. Squeeze out any excess water.
4. Boil the eggs for 10 minutes, cool under cold water, peel and chop.
5. Melt the butter in a frying pan over a low heat and add the onion and leek and bacon and allow to sweat over a low heat until very soft but not browned.
6. Add the flour and stir in well. Cook on a low heat for a minute or so.
7. Stir in the white wine and fish stock, stir well so there are no lumps and bring to a gentle boil. Cook for 5 to 10 minutes until the sauce has thickened.
8. Add the cream and cook on a low heat until you have a thick sauce.
9. Add any chopped herbs you are using, the cooked spinach and eggs. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir until until mixed through.

Now construct the pie:

• Brush the rim of the pie dish with a little water and place a strip of pastry on top all around the rim.
• Pour a little of the sauce into the pie dish, arrange the fish on the sauce with their heads resting on the side of the pie dish.
• Pour over the remaining sauce.
• On a well floured work surface, roll you chilled pastry until it is just bigger then the pie dish.
• Estimate where the fish heads will be positioned on the pastry and cut crosses into the pastry in those positions.
• Pick up the pastry using a rolling pin and roll the pastry over the pie dish. Carefully pull each sardine by the head through the crosses you cut in the pastry.
• Cut away any excess pastry and crimp the pastry lid in a style of your choice.
• Use the excess pastry to make stars if you want to add an extra design to your pie.
• Brush the pastry well with egg wash and bake in the oven for 40 minutes or until the pastry is nice and brown and cooked thoroughly.