Ingredients

• For mashed potatoes

• 500 gm. potatoes

• 1-2 tbsp. milk

• A knob of butter

• For Seafood

• 6 scallops, fresh or frozen

• 200-250 gm. seafood medley of your choice (a mix of peeled prawns, mussels and sliced squid etc.)

• 1 small onion, peeled and thinly sliced

• 2 bay leaves

• 6-7 black peppercorns

• A pinch of salt

• 1/2 cup water (seafood also releases water)

• Juice of 1/2 lime

• For sauce

• 1/4 pint milk

• 2 tbsp. plain flour (maida). Quantity is approximate

• 80 gm. pack of garlic and herb cream cheese(Boursin or similar). You can use other flavours

• 2 tomatoes, blanched, peeled and thickly chopped/sliced

• 1 green chilli, sliced (optional)

• 1 tbsp. flat leaf parsley, chopped

• A good sprinkle of freshly ground black pepper

• Salt to taste

• A little butter to dot over the finished dish

Instructions

1. Boil and peel potatoes. I boil potatoes with their skin on and then peel them. You can peel them first and then boil them, if you wish.

2. Place potatoes in a bowl, along with butter and cream cheese. Add milk and cream cheese and mash until you have creamy, soft mashed potatoes. Keep aside.

3. Wash seafood. Place in a pan, along with bay leaves, peppercorns, onion slices, salt, lemon juice and water. You can add a little white wine here, if you wish. Bring to boil and simmer gently for no more than 5 minutes. Otherwise, seafood gets tough.

4. Strain, collecting the water in a bowl for later use. Pick off bay leaves. I leave peppercorns in, but you can pick them out too. Keep the seafood aside.

5. Making Sauce

6. Boil the liquid strained from the seafood, until it is reduced to half.

7. Meanwhile, dissolve plain flour in the milk and beat to make sure there are no lumps.

8. Add to the boiling liquid, a little at a time, stirring all the time, until it is of thick, custard like consistency. You may need to use a little more or a little less flour than suggested. The sauce should be thick, to bind and hold all seafood together.

9. Add garlic cheese and stir until it is well dissolved.

10. Add tomatoes, seafood, green chillies, parsley and pepper. Taste before adding salt. Mix gently. Turn heat off.

11. Turn it over into a pie dish, spread mashed potatoes over it, dot with a little butter and cook in the centre of a hot oven at 225? C or 450? F, until potatoes are lightly browned. This takes about 15-20 minutes.

12. You can assemble individual little pies in heatproof dishes or scallop shells.

13. Serve with Chilli Sauce of your choice, fresh Salad and bread.

Notes

• This dish can be made with other fish like salmon or with prawns or with scallops alone.