Estonian-inspired haddock & mushroom gratin with dill & paprika

Name: Estonian-inspired haddock & mushroom gratin with dill & paprika
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 1 h 15 min
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Yield: 6
Ingredients: 3½ tbsp olive oil; 2 onions, peeled, halved, then cut into 0.5cm slices; 1 clove/s garlic, grated to a purée; 2½ tsp Cooks’ Ingredients Paprika (not smoked); 400 ml double cream; 150 ml Essential Soured Cream; 75 ml whole milk; 600 g large potatoes, peeled (I like Maris Piper); 200 g pack No.1 Woodland Mushrooms; 250 g pack chestnut mushrooms; 20 g butter; 500 g haddock loin fillets, from the fish counter; 20 g pack dill, leaves chopped; lemon wedges, to serve

Insipired by a trip to Tallinn, Estonia, Diana Henry's warming dish is comfort to the core. Serve slongside a beetroot, apple & red cabbage salad with caraway

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Serves6
CourseMain meal
Prepare15 mins
Cook1 hr 15 mins
Total time1 hr 30 mins

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Ingredients

3½ tbsp olive oil
2 onions, peeled, halved, then cut into 0.5cm slices
1 clove/s garlic, grated to a purée
2½ tsp Cooks’ Ingredients Paprika (not smoked)
400ml double cream
150ml Essential Soured Cream
75ml whole milk
600g large potatoes, peeled (I like Maris Piper)
200g pack No.1 Woodland Mushrooms
250g pack chestnut mushrooms
20g butter
500g haddock loin fillets, from the fish counter
¾ x 20g pack dill, leaves chopped
lemon wedges, to serve

Method

Preheat the oven to 200ºC, gas mark 6 and put a baking sheet in. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large frying pan and fry the onions over a medium to low heat until beginning to soften, about 5 minutes. Season, then add 50ml water. Cover the pan and sweat the onions over a low heat until completely soft, about another 5 minutes. Add the garlic and ½ the paprika to the pan and cook for another 4 minutes or so.
Put the double cream, soured cream and milk into a large saucepan. Season, then bring to a gentle simmer. Using a mandolin, finely slice the potatoes. They must be wafer-thin. As you cut the slices, drop batches into the pan with the cream. Once the potatoes have been sliced, add the last batch and part-cover the pan with a lid, leaving a little gap at the side.
Cook the potatoes for 25-30 minutes, until tender but with a little resistance when you put the point of a knife into them. Turn them over occasionally and make sure they don’t burn at the bottom.
While the potatoes are cooking, clean and slice the mushrooms. Heat the remaining olive oil in a frying pan and briskly fry the mushrooms to get a good colour. Season and add the remaining paprika. The mushrooms will exude a lot of water over time – keep cooking until the liquid evaporates. Add ½ the butter to the mushrooms – it helps the flavour – and butter a 2L gratin dish with the rest.
Cut the fish across the loin into 2cm slices. Spoon ½ the potatoes into the buttered dish and sprinkle with ¼ of the dill. Put ½ the onions and ½ the mushrooms on top, then the fish. Season and sprinkle with ¼ more dill. Add the remaining onions and mushrooms. Sprinkle with more dill (reserve some for the top) and spoon on the rest of the potatoes. This will be the top of the gratin, but it doesn’t have to be neat.
Slide the dish onto the hot baking sheet. Cook for 30 minutes, or until the liquid has completely reduced, the potatoes are soft and the top is golden. Let the dish cool for about 8-10 minutes – it will be very hot – then scatter over the dill. Serve with lemon wedges and the beetroot salad (see link under the title) on the side.

Cook’s tip

It’s important to get the quantity of liquid right, to preheat your oven properly and to partially cook the potatoes on the hob before layering the dish and putting it in the oven.