Recipe: Oysters with Spinach & Cream
07 March 2018 at 10:25
Oysters used to be a food for the poor and were sold on the streets of the cities as what we might now call “street food”. They are highly nutritious, full of minerals such a selenium, zinc and iron, not to mention omega 3 fatty acids. Today they are farmed around Argyll especially loch Fyne and are available year round.
However the native oyster is only available in the months with an R in them, and are a special treat as they do taste different from the “pacific gigas” as the farmed ones are called. You can tell the natives are they are rounder than the “gigas”. Both are delicious raw straight from the shell, but here is a cooked recipe with spinach and cream - a truly delicious combination. The recipe is sometimes known as Oysters Rockefeller as they are “as rich as Rockefeller” !
Ingredients
For 4 people - 6 oysters each as a first course
24 oysters
125g butter
300g spinach roughly chopped
6 spring onions
Freshly ground black pepper
200ml double cream
Dry bread crumbs
Method
- Open the oysters and remove them and set aside with the liquid. Place the deep shells in a baking dish so that they are held steady.
- In a large pan melt the butter and cook the spinach and spring onions gently until they soften and most of the moisture has evaporated. Add the oyster juice and cream and simmer until a spoonable but not dry mixture is achieved.
- Spoon the spinach into the shells and place the oysters on top pushing gently to just half cover, sprinkle with breadcrumbs and either bake in a hot oven or under a grill until lightly browned and bubbling, the oysters will be cooked.
- Serve immediately.
Recipe by Christopher Trotter
Food photography by Caroline Trotter