Happiness is a homemade pie

The crunch of a crisp pie crust is so enticing; once you break through and taste the first mouthful of the rich filling, you remember how good a homemade pie can be.

I have tasted many great pies in my time. I'll never forget a fantastic curried scallop pie I had in Tasmania. I also have fond memories of my first pie floater - a juicy meat pie topped with a sauce of mushy peas, sold from a van in Adelaide. We also did a beef cheek and Pedro Ximenez sherry pie at the Movida bakery that was very popular.

This fish pie has an excellent mix of flavours, combining rich smoked trout with the briny freshness of snapper. If fennel is in season, I like to add half a bulb, roughly chopped, cooked with onions to add an aniseed flavour.

Using lentils and mushrooms in a shepherd's pie is a fantastic substitute for meat. You won't miss it with the rich, earthy taste of the pulses.

Smoked trout and snapper pie

70g butter

1 brown onion, finely diced

1 clove garlic, crushed

2 sticks celery, diced

350ml milk

40g plain flour

450g snapper fillet, cleaned and cut into 3cm cubes

1 smoked trout, filleted

1 tbsp dill, chopped

2 tbsp parsley, chopped

1/2 a lemon, juiced

salt and pepper

1 square puff pastry

1 egg, beaten

Preheat oven to 180C. In a heavy-based saucepan, melt butter over a low heat. Add the onion, garlic and celery and sweat until translucent. Warm the milk. When the vegetables are ready, add the flour and stir until well mixed. Start adding milk in small amounts and stir, only adding more milk once the mixture is smooth.

Add the snapper and cook for 10 minutes on a low to medium heat. Remove from the heat. Break the trout fillet into similar-sized pieces to the snapper and fold through the snapper mix with the herbs and the lemon juice. Season well and place in a 20-centimetre square baking dish.

Top with pastry and brush with the beaten egg. Bake for about 25 minutes or until golden on top.

Serves 6

Lentil shepherd's pie

150g green lentils

750g potatoes

2 tbsp olive oil

2 small onions, peeled and chopped

1 large garlic clove, peeled and chopped

75g mushrooms, wiped and chopped

1 medium carrot, peeled and diced

600g can chopped tomatoes

1 1/2 tbsp tomato puree

1 1/2 tbsp tamari or soy sauce

1 handful parsley, chopped

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp milk

Put the lentils in a pan, cover with water and simmer for 45 minutes or until soft. Drain and put to one side. Meanwhile, peel and chop the potatoes, put them in a pan, cover with water, bring to the boil and cook until tender.

Preheat oven to 190C.

Heat the olive oil in a pan over a low heat and cook the onion and garlic until translucent. Add the mushrooms and carrots, and cook for a further two minutes. Add the tomatoes, tomato puree, soy sauce, cooked lentils and parsley and cook for a few more minutes. Remove from the heat. Drain and mash the potatoes well or put them through a mouli or ricer and puree.

Mix in butter and milk and stir until smooth. Pour the lentil mixture into a 20-centimetre square ovenproof dish. Put the mashed potato into a piping bag with a 1-centimetre nozzle and pipe in straight lines across the top of the lentil mixture.

Bake for 30 minutes or until the potato starts to turn golden brown.

Serves 4