Studio Ghibli Fish Pie - Creating a dish based on KiKi's Delivery Service

STUDIO GHIBLI FISH PIE

This Fish Pie, inspired by Studio Ghibli's anime film "Kiki's Delivery Service"(1989), contains three layers of mashed sweet potatoes, salmon, and bechamel sauce sandwiched in-between puff pastry.  I created this recipe based on some fan recipes found online, although my casserole differs greatly in both ingredient choice and flavor.  I took on this challenge of inventing my own version in an effort to make it a little more appealing to an American palate and to put my own spin on this decadent cartoon casserole!  This recipe is baked in a glass casserole dish and takes about 1 hour 15 minutes to complete from prep to finish. . It requires several steps to make the three layers, so I would consider this to be an intermediate (maybe a 5/10) level of difficulty.  The fish design, however, seems much more complicated than it really is - guaranteed to impress!

INGREDIENTS

Bechamel Sauce

4 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons all purpose flour

2 1/2 cups milk

1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic *use fresh garlic, if on hand

dash of nutmeg

salt and pepper to taste

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

3 large sweet potatoes

2 teaspoons cayenne pepper

4 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup milk

1 tablespoon honey

salt and pepper to taste

Salmon

salt and pepper to taste

*I would recommend adding a fresh herb such as parsley or dill to brighten the flavors even more, although I did not do so when creating my recipe

Puffed Pastry, thawed

5 Black Olives, halved

2 egg yolks, whisked

*For the sake of time, I used frozen, store bought dough which comes as two layers.  Fresh/homemade dough can be substituted, for the ambitious chefs

Heat oven to 400° F.  Pierce each sweet potato several times with the tines of a fork. Place the sweet potatoes on a rimmed baking sheet lined with foil.  Bake until tender, about 45 minutes.  Make a slit in the top of each sweet potato.

Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, until the paste cooks and bubbles a bit, but don't let it brown — about 2 minutes. Add the hot milk, continuing to stir as the sauce thickens. Bring it to a boil. Add nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste, lower the heat, and cook, stirring for 2 to 3 minutes more. Add the garlic. Remove from the heat. Cool this sauce for later use by covering it with wax paper to prevent a skin from forming.

1. Remove sweet potatoes from oven.  Scoop the interior of the sweet potatoes into a large mixing bowl, the skins will separate easily after roasting.  Add the milk, butter, honey, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper.  Mash until evenly mixed.  

1. Cut salmon filet into 1 inch thick long strips.  I removed the skin, which is optional as to your preference.  Season with salt and pepper, and fresh herbs if desired.

1. Spray casserole dish with non stick cooking spray, and begin to assemble the Fish Pie by adding the first layer of puff pastry.  Set aside the remaining dough scraps for the design.  Make sure to leave about 1/2 inch extra dough on the sides of the layer to compensate for the dough shrinking slightly as it rises.

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2. Add the layer of mashed sweet potatoes, the layer of salmon, and the layer of bechamel sauce.  Top with the second layer of puff pastry and again reserve the dough scraps for the design.

Pull up a reference photo on your phone / device, or use an image you have drawn to create the shapes that make up the fish in puff pastry.  Make the most of your left over dough so that the fish is large enough, I used the already rounded edge of the pastry as a starting point for the curve of the fish's back.  Press lightly to sketch out lines with your knife cuts so that you do not accidentally make a mistake on the shape.  I cut out this basic teardrop shape to start my template. 

Cut out a circle for the eye, the lips, and block out the shapes for the fins and tail using the teardrop for scale.  Once you are satisfied with the general shapes, add the details into each individual part with a kitchen knife.

Assemble the shapes of dough into the final fish pattern.  Cut 5 thin strips to be used as scales on the fish's body and add to design.  Cut another 6 long strips to be used as background design for the casserole and add at a diagonal. 

Clean knife cuts and uniform diagonal strips are key to making the design look well executed.

Use a brush to spread the egg yolks over the puff pastry design.  Garnish with olives.

Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, remove and let cool for 15 minutes prior to serving.

Enjoy your Studio Ghibli Fish Pie!

Thanks for checking out my casserole!  Please feel free to subscribe for more fun and recipes like this one!  Comment and let me know what you think!

-Hallie