Grand Hotel Pasta & Fish

This is the kind of fish pasta you’d find at a seaside Italian hotel: light, fresh, and unfussy. Strips of flounder cook in olive oil with sliced garlic, fresh herbs, Roma tomatoes, and a splash of white wine. The whole sauce comes together in under ten minutes and gets tossed with spinach spaghetti for a beautiful green-and-red presentation.

Flounder is the right fish for this dish. It’s mild, delicate, and breaks into tender flakes that weave through the pasta. The half-inch strips cook in just four minutes with the tomatoes and wine, so everything stays light and fresh rather than heavy or overcooked.

The garlic goes into the oil first and cooks until just lightly golden. Not brown. Burnt garlic turns bitter and will ruin the entire dish. Two minutes is usually enough. Then the fish, parsley, and basil go in together, followed quickly by the wine and tomatoes.

Pro Tips

• Stir the fish gently. Flounder is fragile and breaks apart easily. You want strips, not mush.
• Use fresh Roma tomatoes if possible. Their meaty flesh holds up better in a quick saute than watery slicing tomatoes.
• Cook the spinach spaghetti to al dente. It continues to soften slightly when tossed with the hot sauce.
• Keep the sauce warm over low heat while the pasta cooks. Don’t let it simmer or the fish will overcook.

Variations

• Use sole or tilapia in place of flounder for a similar mild, flaky fish.
• Add a pinch of red pepper flakes with the garlic for a subtle heat that lifts the whole dish.
• Swap spinach spaghetti for regular linguine or angel hair if that’s what you have on hand.