Grilled Oysters with Crispy Pancetta-Tomato-Basil Mignonette

With the exception of scallops and mussels, I'm not a huge fan of shell fish. I don't care for clams - even when prepared with cream and potatoes - and oysters are just generally unappealing.

Then we saw Bobby Flay prepare this recipe on Food Network and it sounded sooo good to me.  And it was!  It will easily become a beach staple...easy and delicious.

Ingredients
1/2 inch thick piece pancetta, finely diced
1/2 C red wine vinegar
2 T finely diced shallot
1/2 t coarsely ground black peppercorns
8 fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
2 plum tomatoes, seeded and finely diced
Kosher salt
24 oysters, soaked in water and scrubbed well, shucked
Fresh parsley leaves, for garnish
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling

Method

1. Cook the pancetta in a cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat until crisp and the fat has rendered. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate.
2. While the pancetta cooks, combine the vinegar, shallots, peppercorns, basil, tomatoes and season with salt.
3. Grill the shucked oysters over direct medium-high heat until the juices start to bubble and the edges of the oysters curl, 2 - 4 minutes.
4. Remove oysters from grill and top each with some of the mignonette, a few cubes of pancetta and some parsley leaves. Drizzle with a little extra-virgin olive oil.

A couple of notes, as always....
The original recipe calls for grilling these over charcoal; we used the gas grill.
We had never shucked oysters before, but the instructions in the original recipe were easy to follow (and only required one band-aid!)