Oysters Rockefeller Strata with Artichokes

Ingredients

• 14 ounce artichoke hearts drained chopped canned
• 4 slices bacon cut into small pieces
• 5 large eggs 
• 1.5 cups fennel bulb chopped ( 2 bulbs)
• 0.8 cup parsley fresh chopped
• 0.3 teaspoon ground nutmeg 
• 0.3 teaspoon ground pepper red
• 3.3 cups milk 1% low-fat
• 8 ounce standard oysters undrained
• 2 teaspoons paprika 
• 0.5 ounce parmesan cheese fresh grated
• 1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese 
• 0.5 cup onion red chopped
• 6 ounces ham smoked chopped
• 16 ounce sourdough bread baguette toasted cut into 1/2-inch slices and
• 10 ounce pkt spinach frozen dry thawed drained chopped

Equipment

• bowl
• frying pan
• oven
• whisk
• baking pan
• dutch oven

Directions

1. Cook bacon in a Dutch oven over medium heat until crisp.
2. Add fennel and onion to pan; saut 8 minutes or until soft.
3. Remove bacon mixture from pan.
4. Add undrained oysters to pan; cook 3 minutes or until edges of oysters begin to curl.
5. Remove oysters from pan; discard cooking liquid. Chop oysters; add to bacon mixture. Stir in ham, parsley, and artichokes.
6. Combine ricotta, nutmeg, red pepper, and 1 egg in a bowl; stir with a whisk until well-blended.
7. Add 4 eggs; stir well. Stir in milk and spinach.
8. Arrange half of toast in a single layer in a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Spoon half of oyster mixture evenly over bread.
9. Pour half of milk mixture over oyster mixture; repeat layers.
10. Sprinkle with Parmesan and paprika. Cover; refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.
11. Preheat oven to 35
12. Uncover and bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until set.
13. Note: Fresh shucked oysters, which are often packaged in pop-top containers, come in three sizes; select, standard, and stewing. Standard are average size.