Alastair Hendy's Plaice Plate Pies

Have ready 4 suitable individual baking dishes or ovenproof rimmed soup plates, about 22cm across, 350ml-450ml capacity.

Peel and cut up the potatoes and cook in salted boiling water for about 20 minutes until soft. Drain the potatoes and mash with 100ml of the milk, 50g of the butter and some salt and pepper, until very smooth. Fold in the grated cheese if using.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Finely chop the curly parsley. Melt the remaining butter in a pan over a gentle heat, then stir in the flour. Gradually, and while stirring with a hand whisk (or use a mini whisk, the kind for making sauces), add the remaining 500ml milk to make a white sauce.

Let it bubble gently for 3 minutes, stirring frequently so that it doesn’t catch. Stir in the finely chopped parsley. Season generously with salt
and pepper.

Spoon a layer of the sauce into your baking dishes or plates. Lay 2 plaice fillets on top of the sauce, sprinkle the plaice with a little lemon zest, then cover them with the remaining parsley sauce.

Spoon the mash in blobs on top and smooth over. Bake for about 25 minutes until the mash is tinged with gold. Serve with tomato ketchup.