Stargazy Pie
A striking British seafood pie where whole sardines or small fish peek through a golden pastry crust, their heads pointing toward the sky. Buttery, flaky, and surprisingly simple to assemble.
- Total time
- 45 min
- Servings
- 4
- Calories
- 385
- Protein
- 24g
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups all-purpose flour
- 6 tablespoons cold butter, cubed
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoons ice water
- 8 whole fish fresh sardines or small mackerel, gutted and cleaned
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
Instructions
- 1
Pour 1.5 cups flour and 0.5 teaspoon salt into a large mixing bowl and stir with a fork to combine.
- 2
Add 6 tablespoons of cold, cubed butter to the flour and use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour until the mixture looks like coarse breadcrumbs or sand.
- 3
Pour 4 tablespoons of ice water over the flour mixture and stir gently with a fork until the dough just comes together into a shaggy ball; do not overmix.
- 4
Wrap the dough ball in plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator for 15 minutes while you prepare the fish.
- 5
Set the oven to 400°F and wait until the indicator light or beep tells you it has finished heating, about 10 minutes.
- 6
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll it out on a lightly floured surface into a circle about 1/4 inch thick, roughly the size of your 9-inch pie dish.
- 7
Lay the rolled dough into a 9-inch pie dish, letting any excess hang over the edge; do not trim it yet.
- 8
Arrange the 8 cleaned fish on the dough in a circular pattern with their tails toward the center and their heads pointing outward and upward, so the heads poke through the crust.
- 9
Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of chopped parsley evenly over the fish, then fold the overhanging dough edges up and over the fish, pressing gently so the crust partially covers the tails and sides.
- 10
Place the pie dish in the preheated 400°F oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown and the fish skin looks opaque, not translucent.
- 11
Remove the pie from the oven and let it rest for 3 minutes, then slice and serve warm.
Tools you’ll need
- large mixing bowl
- fork
- 9-inch pie dish
- rolling pin
- plastic wrap
- chef's knife
- oven
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