One of the great advantages of living near the ocean is to have access to nice fresh, local fish. One may think options are limited as they depend on the weather and the season, but freshness of locally fished wild fishes is incomparable and price often too. So yes there are times when the only fish you find is bonito or tuna, sometimes snapper, and at the moment it’s flounder. But I must say that I have always loved flounder. My grandmother would make delicious ones. My mother too. So it’s a kind of “full of memories” flavor and texture. So every year when the flounder season comes I am always pleased with it. My favorite way of eating it, as for most fish we eat, is simply grilled in a pan without any fat.

Last night I decided to upgrade the recipe a bit by adding a large amount of chiseled parsley and a bit of panko grilled in a pan. It looks like a classic combination you would use for an oven grilled fish recipe, but my oven is way to big to grill only a tiny piece of fish so I created a pan roast version. It works amazingly well, and allows for better control of the fish cooking time and the parsley mix. Which in the end may actually be better. I served the whole with some leftover parpadelle with a thick tomato sauce. Here is my recipe.

Parsley crust flounder

• A piece of flounder. I use a piece for sashimi from a big fish to have a thick piece
• A handful of parsley
• 1 tbs of panko (I served with pasta so went easy on panko, but you can use up to double if you want for maximum crunchiness)
• A drizzle of olive oil

Wash and chisel the parsley. Put in a pan, and turn on the gas to medium. Heat for a few minutes while stirring to remove all the moisture. Add the panko. Continue heating and stirring once in a while until the panko starts being golden.

In the meantime cut the piece of fish into portion of the size you want and grill them in a pan at high heat. Flip once.

When perfectly cooked serve the parsley and top with the wish, or the otherway around. Enjoy!