Serves 6

Preparation time: 1 hour
Cooking time: 30 mins

Ingredients:
• 1kg (2lb) spinach
• 4 × 175g (6oz) salmon fillets
• 40g (3 tablespoons) butter, plus extra for greasing
• 50g plain (all-purpose) flour, plus extra for dusting
• 500ml milk
• pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
• pinch of dried thyme
• 100g grated Gruyère cheese
• 100ml double cream
• 200g (7oz) shortcrust pastry (basic pie dough), thawed if frozen
• salt and pepper

Place spinach into a saucepan with just the water clinging to leaves after washing and cook for 5-10 minutes.

Squeeze out excess moisture and chop. Put fish into a shallow saucepan, pour in water to cover, add pinch of salt and bring to a boil, heat low, simmer for 10 minutes.

Remove the fish with a spatula, discard the skin and flake the flesh. Reserve the cooking liquid. Preheat oven to 160°C/ 325°F/Gas Mark 3.

Grease a pie dish (plate) with butter. Melt butter in saucepan, stir in flour and cook over low heat, stirring for two minutes.

Stir in the milk and two ladlefuls of the reserved cooking liquid. Season with salt and pepper, stir in the nutmeg and thyme, and remove the pan from the heat.

Stir in the cheese, cream, spinach and salmon. Roll out the pastry dough into a round on a lightly floured counter and use to line the prepared pie dish. Line with a sheet of parchment paper, fill with baking beans (pie weights) and bake blind for 15 minutes. Remove the dish from the oven and increase the temperature to 180°C/ 350°F/Gas Mark 4.

Remove the baking beans and paper from the pastry case (shell). Spoon the spinach and salmon mix into the pastry case and bake for 30 minutes.

Remove pie from oven and serve warm.