Mom's Christmas Eve Flounder
Our Christmas Eve dinner always included our Mom's delicious flounder dish which she made every Christmas Eve as long as we can remember. In keeping with our Italian heritage, of course it's made with mozzarella, Pecorino Romano cheese, seasoned breadcrumbs, butter, white wine, herbs, and garlic... lots of garlic! Christmas Eve just wouldn't be the same without it. Mom's handwritten recipe listed ingredients only... no measurements so our first attempt was a disaster!!! We knew it was missing something but we weren't quite sure what it was because we followed her ingredient list to the letter. We finally realized the missing ingredient was garlic... she obviously thought it was a given & not necessary to write it down! We're happy to share this family favorite with you and hope your family enjoys it as much as our family does. ❤️❤️
Ingredients
- 2-2½ lbs flounder fillets (all skin & bones removed)
- salted butter
- 5 Tablespoons Italian seasoned bread crumbs (about 1½ Tablespoons for each layer; more or less to taste)
- 3 tsp dried oregano (1 tsp for each layer)
- 3 tsp dried thyme (1 tsp for each layer)
- 6 Tablespoons Pecorino Romano cheese, grated (about 2 Tablespoons per layer; more or less to taste)
- 8 oz whole milk mozzarella cheese, shredded or thinly sliced
- 6 large cloves garlic, smashed then minced
- salt & pepper to taste, optional
- 3 Tablespoons Chardonnay wine
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
- Grease a 24-ounce oval au gratin dish (or an 8 x 8-inch glass pyrex) baking dish with butter. (We used Le Creuset Heritage Stoneware 24-Ounce Oval Au Gratin Dish)
- Place fish fillets to cover the bottom of the baking dish.
- Place a few small pats of butter on fish fillets.
- Spread 1/3 of the garlic over the fish fillets.
- Sprinkle with dried thyme and oregano.
- Sprinkle with Pecorino Romano cheese to cover fish.
- Sprinkle with seasoned bread crumbs then top with shredded mozzarella cheese.
- Repeat steps 3 – 8 for two more layers. (There should be 3 layers in total)
- Top with small pats of butter and sprinkle 3 Tablespoons of Chardonnay on top.
- Bake at 400ºF until fish flakes, approximately 25-30 minutes.
Notes: For a gluten-free version use Gluten-Free Italian Seasoned Bread Crumbs.
As you know I’m not a huge seafood person,however, when I tried this at our last Christmas Eve dinner it was absolutely delicious. Everything just tastes like it belonged together 🤗 Can’t wait for this Christmas Eve 🎄🤶🎅🎄Great job ladies 😘
Susan, thanks so much for your kind words. So happy you like our Christmas Eve Flounder recipe. Merry Christmas!
My family enjoys some fish dishes and this one is very different from my usual fried fillets. It sounds delicious so I’m going to try it this week. Thanks !
Diane we’re happy your going to give our recipe a try. We welcome your feedback.
I made this recipe and brought it to Christmas Eve dinner at my brothers house. Everyone raved about it. The mozzarella cheese was a new twist for us. We all agreed it will now become part of our dinner every Christmas Eve. Thank you for all your delicious recipes.
Thank you Cannolilover2 for trying our Mom’s Christmas Eve Flounder recipe. So happy your family likes it as much as ours and your making it a part of your Christmas Eve dinner. Thanks so much fo your support.
Looks delicious and will try soon.
Let us know how you like it after you try this recipe.