fantastic fish pie

i had a dinner party the other week for my girlfriend, lyn, who moved to denver and was visiting home. she loved the fish pie that i cooked, a jamie oliver recipe. she searched it on the internet but couldn't locate it, so i typed up the recipe. since i typed it out, i might as well share it with the masses.

serves 6

5 large potatoes, peeled and diced 1-inch squares
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 large eggs
2 handfuls of fresh spinach
1 onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, halved and finely chopped
EVOO
approximately 1 1/3 cups heavy cream
2 good handfuls of grated sharp cheddar or parmesan cheese
juice of 1 lemon
1 heaped teaspoon english mustard (colman's)
1 large handful of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
1lb haddock or cod fillet, skin removed, pin-boned and sliced into strips
fresh nutmeg (optional) <-- do it though.. i think it taste nice!
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preheat the oven to 450F. put potatoes into salted boiling water and bring back to a boil for 2min. carefully add the eggs to the pan and cook for a further 8min, until hard-boiled, by which time the potatoes should also be cooked. at the same time, steam the spinach in a colander above the pan. this will take only a minute. when the spinach is done, remove the colander and gently squeeze out any excess moisture. then drain the potatoes in the colander. remove the eggs, cool under cold water, then peel and quarter them. place to one side.

in a separate pan slowly fry the onion and carrot in a little evoo for about 5min, then add the cream and bring just to the boil. remove from the heat and add the cheese, lemon juice, mustard and parsley. put the spinach, fish and eggs, into an approximately sized earthenware dish and mix together, pouring over the creamy vegetable sauce. the cooked potatoes should be drained and massed -- add a bit of evoo, salt and pepper, and a touch of nutmeg if you like. spread on top of the fish. don't bother piping it to make it look pretty -- it's a homely hearty thing. place in the over fora bout 25 - 30min until the potatoes are golden. serve with some peas or greens, not forgetting your baked beans and ketchup. tacky but tasty, and that's what i like.
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here are my revisions/additions.. john and i have played with it, and found that we like these extras:
-5 eggs instead of two.. cut them in circle rounds, and then halved as we did last week
-john likes more potatoes.. so either 10-12 small ones or 7 big ones
-2 bunches of fresh spinach for more veg/greens
-2 carrots for more veg
-just a little under 2 cups of cream, if you decide to add more potatoes, spinach and carrots
-i used a shredded blend of cheeses.. john and i found that any combo of cheeses as oppose to one taste better. make sure you get cheddar and parmesan as the base, and any other cheese as well. those two cheeses are nice and sharp.
-i used 2 heaping if not close to 3 teaspoons of mustard.. it adds a nice kick and more flavor. -john found the secret ingredient: smoked salmon! i buy a small package that's just about 4oz or so, and chop it up into small bits mixing it with the fish and cream mixture.
-top the dish with more shredded cheese for a nice cheese topping

guten appetit!