The flounder, lightly coated in a crisp Italian herb crust, bakes to golden perfection, offering a flaky and tender bite every time.
Paired with rigatoni tossed in a luscious lemon wine butter sauce, every forkful bursts with bright, velvety flavor that feels both refined and refreshingly simple.
Why You Will Love This Recipe
- Perfect Balance of Texture and Flavor: The crispy crust on the flounder contrasts beautifully with the silky, citrusy sauce and tender pasta.
- Light Yet Luxurious: The lemon wine butter sauce adds richness without heaviness, ideal for weeknight dinners or special occasions.
- Restaurant-quality in Your Kitchen: Inspired by Italian coastal cuisine, this dish feels gourmet but comes together easily with everyday ingredients.
Meat Alternatives
- Boneless Chicken Breast Cutlets- chicken with lemon sauce is ideal any weeknight
- Boneless Pork Tenderloin- roasted pork fork-tender in lemon is a delicious combination
- Filet Mignon- the King of tender beef
- Venison tenderloin topped with breadcrumbs
- Boneless Veal- Lemon and Veal are a great match together
- Sole- for an even more delicate texture
- Halibut- for a firmer, meatier bite
- Tilapia-a budget-friendly option that absorbs the sauce beautifully
- Cod-mild and hearty, great for soaking up the buttery wine notes
- Sea Bass- for a more elevated, restaurant-style presentation
More Recipes We Love
Italian Christmas Eve Seafood Recipes
Best Fried Fish Recipe Coatings
Stuffed Flounder with Shrimp and Crab
PLEASE PIN THIS FOR LATER
Seafood Lovers
Just a few tips: use any kind of seafood you prefer.
This version of lemon butter wine sauce is great on shrimp, lobster, crab, haddock, Chilean sea bass and just about every kind of fish in the sea.
We just happened to live in Florida and caught a beautiful Flounder, which was on our menu for this evening.
Again, for those not seafood lovers, try boneless chicken or another meat you love!
Italian Baked Crusted Flounder with Rigatoni in Wine Sauce Pasta
Yield: 4
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 30 MinTotal time: 40 Min
delicious breadcrumb topped flounder on top of rigatoni in a wine butter sauce
Ingredients
- 1 lb flounder (or other white fish), fresh or frozen-thawed
- around 1/2 cup or more Italian-flavored bread crumbs
- white wine ( Pinot Grigio or Chablis preferred)
- 1 tablespoon each fresh parsley, fresh basil, chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, black pepper, salt
- grated Pecorino Romano cheese
- olive oil
- 1 pound of rigatoni pasta cooked to package instructions and drained, reserving 1/2 cup pasta water
- Wine Sauce
- 1 tablespoon fresh garlic, finely minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh shallot, finely minced
- 2 tablespoons white wine (I use either Chablis or Pinot Grigio)
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, cold
- 1 pinch seasoned salt
Instructions
- Boil pasta in salt water till al dente, around 11 to 12 minutes. Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water.
- Toss the pasta with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and the pasta water, and keep warm.
- Preheat to 350 degrees.
- In a large oil-sprayed pie plate lay the flounder pieces, single into the plate.
- Sprinkle each piece of fish heavily with breadcrumbs.
- Add the herbs and spices evenly on each piece on top.
- Sprinkle with grated cheese.
- Drizzle olive oil over each piece on the top.
- Pour at least 1/4 cup of white wine around the bottom and sides of the fish in the pie plate.
- Bake the fish until the top of the breadcrumbs looks crispy, around 30 minutes.
- Pour the sauce this makes with the baked fish into the pasta bowl and toss with more fresh parsley and grated cheese.
- Spoon the pasta on a plate, fish on top, and serve with wine sauce.
- Wine Sauce instructions:
- In a small saucepan, add the garlic, shallots, salt, wine, and lemon juice.
- Boil until this reduces to half.
- Whisk in the cold butter until melted and very creamy looking.
- Serve over the fish and pasta.
Nutrition Facts
Calories
978.59Fat (grams)
57.26Sat. Fat (grams)
31.70Carbs (grams)
73.48Fiber (grams)
4.73Net carbs
68.75Sugar (grams)
3.82Protein (grams)
33.76Sodium (milligrams)
908.05Cholesterol (grams)
193.36PLEASE PIN THIS FOR LATER
Other Favorite Seafood Recipes
Pan-Seared Sea Bass Medley
Seafood Medley
Stuffed Shrimp and Crab Flounder