Baked Italian Oysters

This hot appetizer is served on the half shell for an elegant presentation. The ground red pepper lends a subtle heat to the breadcrumb topping.

Yield: 8 servings (serving size: 3 oysters)

Ingredients

• 1 1/2  (1-ounce) slices white bread
• Cooking spray
• 1/3  cup  sliced green onions
• 1/4  cup  chopped fresh parsley
• 2  garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4  cup  Italian-seasoned breadcrumbs
• 1/4  cup  (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
• 1  teaspoon  fresh lemon juice
• 1/8  teaspoon  ground red pepper
• 1/8  teaspoon  black pepper
• 24  oysters on the half shell
• 8  lemon wedges

Preparation

Preheat oven to 450°.

Place bread in a food processor, and pulse 10 times or until coarse crumbs form to measure 3/4 cup.

Heat a medium nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium heat. Add onions, parsley, and garlic; cook 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; stir in fresh breadcrumbs, Italian breadcrumbs, and the next 4 ingredients (Italian breadcrumbs through black pepper). Place oysters on a jelly roll pan. Sprinkle breadcrumb mixture evenly over oysters.

Bake the oysters at 450° for 7 minutes or until the edges of the oysters curl. Serve with lemon wedges.

Nutritional Information

Calories:

76 (30% from fat)

Fat:

2.5g (sat 1g,mono 0.5g,poly 0.5g)

Protein:

5.4g

Carbohydrate:

7.7g

Fiber:

0.4g

Cholesterol:

26mg

Iron:

3.3mg

Sodium:

234mg

Calcium:

77mg