Karen Martini’s Baked Oysters with Bacon and Horseradish Cream

These sexy baked oysters with bacon and horseradish cream from Karen Martini’s gorgeous new cookbook Everyday would make an impressive first course for a dinner party or a canapé for summer parties.

These oysters are a refined nod to the Kilpatrick. The oysters gently warm through but stay bright and plump and keep their vibrant sea flavour – Karen Martini.

Everyday by Karen Martini, published by Pan Macmillan, RRP $39.95

Makes: 24

Ingredients

2 dozen oysters (plump Pacific oysters are great)
1.5 kg rock salt
120 ml cream
100 g parmesan cheese, finely grated
15-cm piece of fresh horseradish, peeled and finely grated, or 3 tablespoons prepared horseradish
freshly ground black pepper
80 g unsalted butter, cut into dice, chilled
60 g fresh breadcrumbs
1 handful of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
4 slices of streaky bacon, fried until crisp
2 lemons, quartered, to serve

Method

1. Set up the oysters on a baking tray, stabilising each oyster on a small pile of rock salt so they can be served straight from oven to table.

2. Preheat the oven grill to high.

3. Mix the cream, parmesan and horseradish in a bowl and season with pepper.

4. Top each oyster with half a tablespoon of the cream mixture, a tiny knob of butter and a grind of pepper. Combine the breadcrumbs and parsley and sprinkle over each oyster. Place under the grill for 3 minutes until golden (the oysters should not be fully cooked).

5. Before serving, break over the bacon and serve with the wedges of lemon.