Pike cutlets are a painstaking and long-term dish to prepare. But the very delicate taste and amazing aroma of cutlets compensate for any shortcomings. Your family will surely appreciate the result of your work, enjoying delicious and healthy food. Be patient, cook pike cutlets in tomato sauce, and the gratitude of well-fed household members will be your best reward.
There is a belief that the best cutlets are obtained from freshly caught pike, but if there is none, then defrosted pike will do. If, nevertheless, you are lucky, fresh fish is hooked, then start cooking immediately.
How to cook pike cutlets in tomato sauce
Thoroughly clean the pike from scales. Gut the carcass, cut the fillets and remove large protruding bones. The head, tail and spine can be left for the fish broth and then made into an excellent fish soup. 
Soak stale white bread in milk. 
Prepare peeled and washed vegetables. 
In a meat grinder, pass all the cooked vegetables, soaked bread and fish through a fine grate. If there is a desire, then onions and carrots can first be sautéed. But then the dish can no longer be called dietary. 
Add salt, pepper, egg and semolina to the ground products. 
Knead the mince. 
Form small patties. So that they turn out smooth and the stuffing does not stick, wet your hands with cold water. 
Grease the pan with vegetable oil. Fry the fish blanks over medium heat, about 10 minutes on each side. 
Prepare sweet and sour tomato sauce. To do this, you can use several options.
Option one: dilute the tomato paste with water (1 part of the paste and 2-3 parts of water, salt, add your favorite spices and be sure to sugar.
Option two: chop fresh tomatoes without skins in a blender (or take ready-made tomato juice, add spices, sugar and salt here. Spices can be selected specifically for fish, they are on sale in any store. 
Pour a little tomato sauce into the bottom of a thick-bottomed pan or a cauldron and start laying pike cutlets with semolina. Between layers, add half a bay leaf and a few allspice. Drizzle each layer generously with tomato sauce. Put the pan on the stove and simmer the pike cutlets over low heat for about 30-40 minutes. 
According to this recipe, a wonderful dish is obtained, which fits perfectly into both the festive and everyday menu. 
Pike is a rather specific fish. She has dry dietary meat and a very unusual taste. Some refuse to cook it, fearing that the wrong dish will turn out.
There are several secrets on how to make pike cutlets tender and juicy:
- the most common advice is to add lard to the minced meat in a ratio of 1 to 5;
- butter softens hard pike minced meat well, you can put it in portions or knead it in the whole dish;
- if you want to get dietary pike cutlets, without lard and oil, then add cottage cheese, chopped greens to them and steam them;
- fish cakes can not be fried, but baked in the oven, but be sure to cover the form so as not to overdry the dish;
- if you have cooked too much minced pike, then you can put it in dumplings or a pie.
