Freezing Nursery Fish Pie

Our answer

Nigella's Nursery Fish Pie (from FEAST) is a potato-topped pie that contains smoked and fresh haddock, boiled eggs and peas. Unfortunately boiled eggs do not freeze well and the whites tend to become rubbery and unpalatable once thawed, so we do not recommend freezing the pie with eggs in. If the whole pie is to be frozen before cooking then we would suggest that you also leave out the peas, as it is best not to thaw and re-freeze foods without cooking. As frozen peas are quick to cook it would be fairly easy to serve the peas as a side dish instead. If the pie has been cooked, does not contain eggs and you are freezing leftovers then it is fine to freeze the pie with peas in.

The pie needs to be chilled within 2 hours of preparing or cooking and then frozen quickly after that. For the whole pie it may be easier to scatter over the cheese just before baking, though you can add the cheese before freezing if you prefer. Wrap the dish of a whole pie tightly in a double layer of clingfilm (plastic wrap) and a layer of foil and freeze for up to 3 months. Put portions of leftover pie in resealable containers and freeze for up to one month. Thaw the pie or leftovers overnight in the fridge. Bake the whole pie following the instructions in the recipe, but allow an extra 10-20 minutes cooking time as the pie will be very cold when it goes into the oven. Reheat leftovers in a microwave, following the manufacturer's instructions. Make sure that the pie, or leftovers, are piping hot all the way through before serving.