During the Covid quarantine, one of the habits my son and I had gotten into was watching cooking programs together. So during a Barefoot Contessa when she was rocking out a Flounder Milanese, he declared, “Mommy, you have to make that for us.”
I was like, for reals? And he said, “Yes that looks yummy. I want that.”
Now I prepared to be punked – you know how children do with food. They love something. You make it again. They are on a hunger strike.
But I gotta say, my kiddo ate his whole plate of this – from the arugula, to the flounder to the frizzled capers to the parmigiano shavings. The kid did me proud. And more than two years later, he still loves this dish.
This is definitely a nice one to make on summer nights when you don’t want a heavy din. Something about the heat makes me not want to eat a lot.
I do recommend you heat the fish in the oven while cooking your remaining rounds of flounder. It keeps it nice and hot and crunchy. The greens, the fish, the lemon, the cheese: It’s a power combo.
This recipe is really nice. I hope you get to make it soon!
Flounder Milanese
Course: MainDifficulty: Easy6
servings20
minutes20
minutesIngredients
6 flounder or sole fillets (1 3/4 lbs. total)
1 cup all-purpose flour
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 extra large eggs
1 1/4 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs, such as Progresso
Unsalted butter
Good olive oil
6 ounces arugula or mixed salad greens for six
Lemon Vinaigrette (recipe follows)
2 Tbsp. drained capers
Freshly grated Italian Parmesan cheese, lemon juice and fleur de sel for serving
- For the lemon vinaigrette
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup good olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions
- For the lemon vinaigrette
- In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, 1 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper.
- For the flounder
- Preheat the oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Dry the fish on both sides with paper towels. Combine the flour, 2 tsp. salt, and 2 tsp. pepper on a dinner plate. In a low shallow bowl, whisk the eggs with 1 Tbsp. water. Put the bread crumbs on another plate.
- Dredge the fish on both sides in the seasoned flour and dust off the excess. Dip both sides into the egg mixture, and finally, dredge both sides in the bread crumbs.
- Heat 1 Tbsp. butter and 1 Tbsp. olive oil in a large (12-inch) saute pan and cook 2 fillets at a time over medium to medium-high heat for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until cooked through.
- Transfer the fish in one layer to the sheet pan in the oven. Add more butter and oil and cook the rest of the fillets, transferring them to the sheet pan as they’re done.
- Toss the arugula with enough lemon vinaigrette to moisten. Place one fillet on each plate and pile the arugula salad on top. Heat the capers in the saute pan for 30 seconds and sprinkle over the fish and salad. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan, a squeeze of lemon juice and the fleur de sel. Serve hot.
