Fresh shucked oysters is one of my absolute favorite apps, entrees, lunch, dinner, you name it. I’ve certainly been spoiled growing up in New England, with some of the freshest seafood around. All I need is a little hot sauce and I’m set. Buck a shuck? Yeah I’ll eat three dozen easy. Who’s with me?
For this past Valentine’s Day, Patty and I went to one of our favorite restaurants in Amherst, called Buckley’s. One of their specials this particular evening was baked oysters with prosciutto, sauteed spinach, and hollandaise sauce. The oysters were so good, we had to try to recreate the recipe on our own.
The smokey, crispy, and salty baked prosciutto perfectly compliments the oysters and buttery hollandaise sauce. It’s almost like the bacon and hollandaise combo on eggs benedict. A similar recipe to oysters rockefeller, but worlds better in my opinion.
Other than the oyster shucking of course, this is a relatively quick and simple recipe—I promise. If you can buy previously shucked raw oysters, it’s the way to go, but if you need to shuck your own, it’s not too tricky once you get the hang of it. I learned from watching Serious Eat’s quick video on how to shuck an oyster.
In short, you use an oyster knife (a dull-pointed, thick-bladed knife) to pry the back hinge of the oyster open and separate the body from the shell. If you don’t have an oyster knife, you can use a flat head screwdriver to separate the hinge and a pairing knife to work your way around the shell. Pro tip, don’t stab yourself.
Prep Time:
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PinIngredients
- 8 raw oysters, shucked
- 3 cups loosely packed fresh leaf spinach
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 3-4 slices prosciutto, cut into small pieces
Hollandaise Sauce
- 1 egg yolk
- 1/2 stick of butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon water
- dash of Worcestershire sauce
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450° F.
- Shuck the oysters and set on a baking sheet with crumpled aluminum foil. This is to give you an uneven surface to help keep the oysters upright. If oysters aren’t pre-shucked, watch how to do it here. Set aside.
- In a medium saucepan on medium heat, saute spinach with garlic and olive oil until fully shriveled, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Top each oyster with 3-4 small pieces of prosciutto and 1 tablespoon of spinach. Bake for 8 minutes.
- For the hollandaise sauce: While oysters are baking, whisk the egg yolks, lemon juice, and Worcestershire sauce together in a small stainless steel bowl. Place the bowl on top of a medium-sized saucepan containing lightly simmering water (or a double boiler). The water should not touch the bottom of the bowl.
- Melt the butter in a microwave and add to the double broiler with the egg yolks, whisking constantly until the sauce thickens and increases in volume, about 3-4 minutes. Cover with aluminum foil and set aside.
- Remove oysters from the oven and top each with 1-2 spoonfuls of hollandaise sauce. Serve immediately. If hollandaise sauce is too thick after sitting, add a teaspoon of warm water at a time until desired thickness is reached.
I literally cannot wait for an R month down here in Maryland. I love oysters any which way, off the half shell, baked, poached, fried – all of it. My only challenge is getting hubby to ignore that there is a bit of spinach in this recipe.
★★★★★
I’m with you! Nothing better than buck a shuck. The spinach adds a nice touch. Let me know how these come out!