Baked cheesy smoked haddock and lemon icebox pudding: Henry Harris’ alternative Easter lunch

. UK edition

Henry Harris' baked smoked haddock and parmesan.
Henry Harris’ baked smoked haddock and parmesan. Photograph: Issy Croker/The Guardian. Food styling: Kitty Coles. Prop styling: Florence Blair. Food styling assistant: Sunita Parsons-Solomon.

An easy and enjoyable Sunday supper made up of a cheesy fish dish and a biscuity iced dessert

Sometimes all you want is a hot, bubbling dish and a spoon, and for me today’s cheesy haddock is that dish – a 15-minute supper to be enjoyed in front of the telly with a salad or a large bowl of hot buttered peas. Add a lemony, biscuity iced dessert, and you have a light, very easy and enjoyable supper that’s almost the perfect close to a long Easter weekend.

Baked smoked haddock and parmesan

Choose your smoked haddock carefully: you want large, thick fillets of undyed fish. Stating the obvious, here, but a good fishmonger will have this; a supermarket never. The creme fraiche must be a French, naturally soured cream, too, becausethe cheaper English versions coagulate when heat is applied, resulting in an unpleasant, watery gunk. If you want to give this a little extra jazz, slice two leeks into rounds, cook them in butter for about 20 minutes until completely soft and all the liquid has evaporated, and add some sliced cooked waxy potatoes to heat through for the last few minutes. Spread this mixture across the base of the two dishes before adding the fish and building up as below.

Prep 10 min
Cook 15 min
Serves 2

2 180g sustainably sourced skinless smoked haddock fillets
150-200g creme fraiche
Black pepper
Tabasco sauce, to taste
Parmesan, for grating
Comté or gruyère, for grating
Buttered peas, or green salad, to serve

Heat the grill to high. Put each haddock fillet in an individual heatproof dish, spoon over the creme fraiche and spread it out loosely but evenly to cover the fish. Season generously with black pepper and a dash of Tabasco, then grate over a good amount of parmesan – there’s no point in trying to give a precise amount, so just give it a good, generous grating to taste. Next, grate over a light covering of comté, then put both dishes in the oven on a shelf that’s about two-thirds of the way down from the grill. Close the door and leave to cook for eight to 10 minutes, until the cream is bubbling and the cheeses have started to colour in places.

Check that the fish is cooked through – if it isn’t, just cook for a little longer. Put two napkins on two plates and carefully lift the dishes from the oven and on to the plates. Take to the table (or sofa) and serve with buttered peas or a green salad.

Lemon icebox pudding

My Mum often serves this at lunch or dinner parties, because you can make it days in advance, and so remove a level of stress or more complications on the day itself. She usually serves it with a raspberry coulis spiked with a dash of brandy or eau-de-vie, and who am I to disagree?

Prep 10 min
Cook 40 min
Freeze 3 hr+
Serves 6-8

Neutral oil, for greasing
150g gingernut biscuits
50g unsalted butter, melted
2 large eggs, separated
70g caster sugar
120ml lemon juice
285ml double cream
Finely grated zest of 2 lemons

Grease a 900g (2lb) loaf tin, then line it with a double layer of clingfilm, ensuring there is plenty of overhang.

Put the biscuits in a plastic bag, then use a rolling pin to bash them to crumbs. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the melted butter. Press half the biscuit mixture evenly into the base of the lined loaf tin, and save the rest for later.

Put the egg yolks in a warmed bowl (fill it with boiling water, leave it to stand for a minute or two, then tip out and dry the bowl). Add the sugar, whisk until pale, light and airy, then beat the lemon juice into the sabayon.

In a second cold bowl, whisk the cream and lemon zest to soft peaks, then fold the cream into the sabayon.

In a third bowl, whisk the egg whites until they’re properly stiff, fold a spoonful of the egg whites into the sabayon mixture, to loosen it a little, then fold in the rest.

Pour the egg and cream mixture into the loaf tin, then put the tin uncovered in the freezer and leave for an hour to set a little. Remove, cover the top evenly with the reserved biscuit mixture, then fold over the excess clingfilm to enclose. Wrap the whole tin in a stout double layer of foil, then return to the freezer until frozen.

When you are serving the main course, transfer the tin from the freezer to the fridge, so it has time to temper and soften (Mum says if you are planning a long cheese course after the main course, wait until you have cleared the mains before doing this). To serve, turn out the pudding on to a board and slice it with a knife that you have run under the hot tap.