Oysters au Gratin

Written by Published on in casserole, oysters, recipes

Ingredients:
4 pieces bacon, cut into bite-sized pieces
1/2 onion, small dice
1 lb “baby” spinach
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
hot sauce
salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 pint shucked oysters, drained
3/4 cup fresh bread crumbs (I used cheese bread)
1/2 cup shredded gouda
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 1-quart baking dish. Set aside. 
In a large skillet, saute the bacon until crisp. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate. Drain all but 1-2 tablespoons of bacon grease (if needed). Saute the onion until translucent. Add the spinach and saute until wilted. Cook over low heat until most the liquid is evaporated. Remove from heat. Stir in the bacon bits, spices, hot sauce, and oysters. Pour into the prepared baking dish. 

Sprinkle with bread crumbs and cheese in alternating handfuls. Bake for 20 minutes or until the oysters are just cooked and the top is browned and bubbly. Serve immediately.

My thoughts:

This recipe is a bit of an odd one. I don’t know if oysters au gratin is a thing (if it’s not, it should be!) but I had picked up two pints of oysters a while back. One pint I made into oyster po’boys for the second time in about two months and I didn’t have any idea what to do with the second jar. Finally, I had to make them or risk spoilage so I came up with this dish. It ended up being really good! Who knew? I served it as a side but it definitely could be a main dish, it is rather filling.

It isn’t as rich as it could be as I didn’t add anything but spinach, a small amount of bacon and oysters in the filling–no dairy at all, and topped it with a modest amount of cheese. The result was a fresh tasty, briny dish that seemed really festive despite me whipping it up on a random weeknight on a whim.

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