Baked Flounder Ricotta

This was absolutely fabulous!  Give it a try next time you have fresh fish you want to do something different with.  Will work with something besides flounder, as long as they are thin fillets.  Serves 4.

Baked Flounder Ricotta (with a side of shrimp).  Yummy!

Ingredients

2 tbl. butter

1 large clove of garlic, crushed

1 large green onion, finely chopped

pinch of fresh thyme

salt & pepper to taste

6 oz. Ricotta cheese

1 ½ tbl. lightly beaten egg

1 ½ tsp. fresh parsley, chopped

1 lb. flounder fillets, cut into 8 pieces

8 thin tomato slices (about ¼” thick)

2 tbl. melted butter

juice of ½ a lemon

8 oz. Mozzarella cheese, shredded

dash of Paprika

Directions

·         Melt 2 tbl. of butter in a small skillet over medium heat

·         Add the garlic and onion, and sauté until soft (2-3 minutes)

·         Add the thyme, salt & pepper and stir in well

·         In a separate bowl, combine the Ricotta cheese, egg, parsley and the onion-garlic mixture fro the skillet and mix until smooth, then cover and refrigerate for about an hour

·         Heat the oven to 350°

·         Lightly butter a baking dish and arrange ½ of the founder fillets in a single layer in the dish

·         Spread the Ricotta mixture evenly over the top of the fillets

·         Top with a second layer of flounder fillets, pressing down to seal in the filling

·         Place one tomato slice on top of each flounder section, then brush lightly with melted butter,

·         Sprinkle with a bit of salt & pepper, and squeeze the lemon juice over the top of everything

·         Add a little bit of water to the pan (not over the fish) to keep from sticking

·         Bake at 350° for about 15-20 minutes, until the fish is almost cooked through

·         Remove from oven and top the fillets with the shredded Mozzarella and Paprika

·         Return to oven and bake another 5 minutes until the cheese is melted and the fish flakes easily

·         Makes about 4 servings