Oysters with Pastis



Serves 6



You will need a large grill pan with a good amount of sea salt in to keep the oysters upright. This will avoid losing the luscious sauce.



Ingredients

30 oysters
  2 shallots, finely chopped
  1 carton of cream (30% is best)
  4 tablespoons Pastis (or more to your own taste)
  1 egg yolk
Handful of parsley
Handful of breadcrumbs



Method

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Shuck the oysters and drain the liquid well from all of them. Reserve half the liquid.
Put the oysters on the salt in the grill pan

Place the reserved liquid in a saucepan with an equal amount of water and the shallots. Bring to the boil and simmer until the liquid is reduced by half.

Add the Pastis and simmer for another 3 minutes or so.Add the cream and bring to boil, simmer for a few minutes.

Cool the cream slightly and add the add yolk, whisking briskly. Warm the sauce but do not boil or the sauce will split. The sauce should thicken slightly. Leave to cool.

Place the parsley and breadcrumbs in a food processor and whizz up until the whole lot goes green.

Pour enough sauce over each oyster to cover, then sprinkle a good amount of the breadcrumb mixture over.
Put your grill on high and grill the oysters for about 3 to 4 minutes or until the breadcrumbs are a toasty brown colour.

Serve immediately, 5 for each person (or to your preference of course).

Cook’s Tip: shucking oysters can be quite daunting for some and I would need another whole page to tell you how. There are some great videos on www.youtube.com  with chefs showing how it is done. Do watch your fingers!