Adapted from Epicurious.com
Serves 6
Printable Recipe
- 2 cups firmly packed baby spinach, finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 tablespoons finely chopped scallions
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 2 teaspoons minced celery
- 1/4 cup coarse fresh bread crumbs (preferably from a day-old baguette)
- 3 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- Pinch of cayenne
- 5 bacon slices
- 1/4 cup shredded or grated Parmesan cheese
- About 5-8 cups kosher or rock salt for baking and serving
- 20 oysters on the half shell, oysters picked over for shell fragments and shells scrubbed well
Preheat oven to 450°F. Toss together spinach, garlic, scallion, parsley, celery, and 2 tablespoons bread crumbs in a bowl.
Melt butter in a 10-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, then add watercress mixture and cook, stirring, until spinach is wilted, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in cayenne, and salt and pepper to taste, then transfer mixture to a bowl and chill, covered, until cold, about 1 hour.
While spinach mixture chills, cook bacon in cleaned skillet over moderate heat, turning, until crisp, then drain on paper towels and finely crumble.
Spread 5 cups kosher salt in a large shallow baking pan (1 inch deep) and nestle oysters (in shells) in it. Spoon spinach mixture evenly over oysters, then top with bacon and sprinkle with remaining bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese. Bake oysters until edges of oysters begin to curl and bread crumbs are golden, about 10 minutes. Serve warm oysters in shells, nestled in kosher salt (about 3 cups), on a platter. Enjoy!
