Cast Iron Roasted Oysters with Spinach and Bacon
By Tested and perfected in the Sur la Table kitchen
Cast Iron Roasted Oysters with Spinach and Bacon
By Tested and perfected in the Sur la Table kitchen
Yield/Serves:
Makes 2 dozen oysters
- 6 slices bacon, cut crosswise into ¼-inch strips
- 1 garlic clove, chopped
- 1 medium shallot, chopped
- 3 cups loosely packed fresh spinach
- 2 ounces (½ stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
- ½ cup dry coarse breadcrumbs
- 2 tablespoons Pernod or other anise-flavored liqueur
- 1 teaspoon tabasco
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 24 fresh oysters, shucked on the half shell
- Rock salt, as needed for serving
- ½ cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
Position rack in the upper portion of the oven and preheat to 450°F.
To a medium skillet over medium-high heat, add bacon. Cook bacon until crisp, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and shallots; cook until soft and translucent, about 2 minutes, and remove from heat.
Transfer bacon mixture to a food processor. Add spinach and pulse to roughly chop. Add butter, breadcrumbs, Pernod and hot sauce and pulse until well blended. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
Place a shucked oyster in each cavity of two cast iron oyster pans. (Alternatively, line a cast iron skillet with about an inch of rock salt.) Top each oyster with one heaping tablespoon of the spinach mixture. Sprinkle each oyster with cheese. Bake until spinach mixture is browned, about 8 minutes.
Serve oysters straight from the cast iron pan or spread about an inch of rock salt out on a serving platter and use tongs to nestle the oysters in the salt. Serve immediately.
To a medium skillet over medium-high heat, add bacon. Cook bacon until crisp, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and shallots; cook until soft and translucent, about 2 minutes, and remove from heat.
Transfer bacon mixture to a food processor. Add spinach and pulse to roughly chop. Add butter, breadcrumbs, Pernod and hot sauce and pulse until well blended. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
Place a shucked oyster in each cavity of two cast iron oyster pans. (Alternatively, line a cast iron skillet with about an inch of rock salt.) Top each oyster with one heaping tablespoon of the spinach mixture. Sprinkle each oyster with cheese. Bake until spinach mixture is browned, about 8 minutes.
Serve oysters straight from the cast iron pan or spread about an inch of rock salt out on a serving platter and use tongs to nestle the oysters in the salt. Serve immediately.