Appetizer: Oyster Rockefeller

By SharonE

One of my favorite appetizers that I fell in love with at one of my aunt's dinners. This recipe is full of salt and fat which makes it so yummy.

Ingredients

• 30 oysters with shell
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 3 strips bacon, cut crosswise into 1/4" pieces
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 medium garlic clove, finely chopped
• 1 10-oz. package frozen spinach, defrosted
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 10 tbsp. grated parmesan cheese
• 10 tbsp. fine, dry bread crumbs
• 1/4 tsp. cayenne

Details

Servings 30

Preparation

Step 1

Remove oysters from half shells, draining and saving the oyster liquor from the shells and setting the shells aside. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Melt 3 tbsp. of butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the bacon, onion and garlic and saute until the onion and garlic are transparent, 3-5 minutes. Add the oyster liquor, spinach, cream, half the parmesan, half the bread crumbs and the cayenne. Cook, stirring until the mixture is thick and creamy, 5-10 minutes. Season to taste with salt.

In a separate saucepan, melt the remaining butter. In a bowl, stir together the melted butter and the remaining parmesan and bread crumbs.

Distribute the spinach mixture among the oyster shells. Set an oyster on top of the spinach in each shell and top it with some of the bread crumb mixture. Fill a shallow oven-to-table baking dish with rock salt and set into salt bed as many rockefellers as will fit. Bake 20-25 minutes.