Roasted Oysters
with Calabrian Chile Butter

 

Quickly roasting oysters in the oven makes them plump and juicy and brings out their natural sweetness. Here, I pair Island Creek Oysters with a smoky Calabrian chile butter. As the oysters roast, the butter melts into the juices and the chiles and garlic become super fragrant. These oysters are fantastic slurped right from the shell or plucked out with a fork and eaten on a cracker or fried bread. 

When roasting oysters, look for ones that are similar in length so they cook evenly (I used their Duxbury oysters here, which are about 2½ to 3-inches). To stabilize the oysters in the oven, I nestle them in rock salt. If you can’t find rock salt, you can also use pieces of crumpled aluminum foil or rest the oysters in the wells of a muffin pan—you don’t want to lose any of those precious juices. If you have leftover Calabrian chile butter, it’s great smeared on a breakfast sandwich, dolloped on a roasted sweet potato, brushed over broiled fish, or saved for more oysters!

 

Serves 8 as an appetizer and 4 as an entrée

  • 1 stick (8 Tablespoons; ½ cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature 

  • 1 heaping Tablespoon Calabrian chile paste

  • 2 garlic cloves, finely grated

  • 1 Tablespoon lemon juice plus 1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest, plus more lemon zest for garnish

  • ½ teaspoon smoked paprika

  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

  • 24 Island Creek Oysters, shucked, on the half shell

  • Rock or ice cream salt

  • Minced chives, for garnish

  • Saltine crackers, for serving

    1. Position a rack in the middle of the oven and then preheat to 500°F.

    2. In a small bowl or using a food processor, combine the softened butter with the Calabrian chile paste, garlic, lemon juice and zest and paprika until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. 

    3. Spread a thick layer of rock salt on two rimmed baking sheets. Nestle the oysters in the salt and top each one with a heaping teaspoon of the butter. Roast the oysters in two batches, cooking until the butter is bubbling and the edges of the oysters are just beginning to curl, about 5 minutes. 

    4. Garnish with more freshly grated lemon zest and minced chives. Serve right away with saltines and a cold beer.


    MAKE AHEAD The Calabrian chile butter can be refrigerated for up to 1 week.