Ask a restaurant that shucks its own oysters for some leftover shells. They can be used repeatedly — just boil them in salted water to sterilise them between uses.
Ingredients
For the oysters rockefeller
- 24 fresh oysters — on a half shell
- 60g butter
- 2 cloves garlic — crushed
- ⅓ cup panko breadcrumbs
- 1 shallot — finely diced
- 2 cups chopped fresh spinach
- ¼ cup white wine
- ¼ cup grated parmesan
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
- 1 dash red capsicum or hot sauce
- Salt and ground black pepper, to taste
- Lemon wedges, to serve (optional)
Method
For the oysters rockefeller
- Preheat the oven to 200°C fan bake.
- Arrange the oysters in a baking dish of rock salt so they sit upright in their shells.
- Melt the butter in a large pan over a low heat. Add the garlic and sauté for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat.
- Place the breadcrumbs in a mixing bowl, add half the garlic butter and stir to combine. Set aside.
- Return the pan to the heat. Add the shallot and spinach to the remaining garlic butter and cook for 3 minutes until the spinach is wilted.
- Add the wine to the pan and stir, using a wooden spoon to loosen any pan brownings.
- Stir in the parmesan, oil, parsley and red capsicum or hot sauce. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Spoon 1 heaped teaspoon of the spinach mixture on top of each oyster, followed by a spoonful of the breadcrumb mixture.
- Bake for 5–7 minutes then transfer to a serving tray and serve with lemon wedges, if desired.