It may still be in the 80’s, but a hint of Autumn can be detected here in South Florida.  This immediately set me in to “Fall Food Mode”.   I hate wasting food (even something stale can be upcycled or repurposed).  When I decided to bread the Flounder, I also realized we were out of breadcrumbs.  Not to fear, there is surely something you can use.  I found two opened sleeves of (now-stale) crackers.  These are perfect.  Just crush them up and treat them like breadcrumbs.

I started with just over a pound of Flounder.  First, I dusted it in flour.  Then, I dipped it in an egg/milk mixture.  Finally, it gets coated in the cracker crumbs.  Then you can set it aside while you prepare everything else.

I toasted some pine nuts over medium heat with a little bit of olive oil and set them aside.

Next up, the white wine sauce.  This is the perfect solution for an open bottle of white wine left behind by a house guest.  I put a fair amount in a pan with one lemon slice and simmered it until it was reduced by half.  Once it is reduced, swirl in a little bit of butter to give it a silky texture.  I poured this sauce over the pine nuts and added a little bit of ground sage.  (The sage is totally optional, but the pasta I used was pumpkin pasta and I really enjoy sage and pumpkin together.)

Now that the fish and sauce is prepped, this is a great time to cook your pasta.  As I just stated, I used pumpkin pasta that we made ourselves.  Making pasta is a really fun way to get the entire family involved with dinner.  It’s like the ultimate edible Play-Doh!  If you decide to do this, go ahead and make a double batch because it keeps (uncooked) in the fridge for days and makes for a very easy dinner later in the week as well.  You don’t need any fancy tools to do it, either.  See this older post for a how-to.

Heat a small amount of oil in a large pan over medium-high heat.  The Flounder we used was thin so, by the time it was browned and crispy… the fish was cooked all the way through.  If you are using thicker fish, you would need to reduce your heat a little bit and cook it for a longer period of time.

I assembled the dish by putting pasta on the bottom, adding the pine nuts and sauce, and a healthy dose of crumbled goat cheese.  It tastes like Fall!!