Oyster Tartlets

Total Time: 50 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 12
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cream cheese, softened (room temperature)
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon minced onion
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 1/2 teaspoons prepared horseradish
• salt & freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice (not the bottled kind)
• 3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs (japanese bread crumbs)
• 1/2 cup freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 24 prebaked spinach miniature phyllo cups
• 24 small shucked oysters or 24 small smoked oysters

Recipe

• 1 preheat the oven to 400°f
• 2 in a small saucepan, melt the butter over moderately high heat.
• 3 stir in the flour, then whisk in the milk & cream cheese, until smooth.
• 4 bring to a simmer, whisking.
• 5 stir in the onion, garlic powder and bay leaf and simmer over low heat, whisking, until no floury taste remains, 10 minutes.
• 6 pass through a coarse strainer set over a small bowl; discard the bay leaf, and add lemon juice.
• 7 stir in the horseradish and season with salt and pepper.
• 8 press a piece of plastic wrap onto the sauce.
• 9 in a small bowl, combine the panko and cheese and stir in the olive oil.
• 10 arrange the phyllo shells on a rimmed baking sheet.
• 11 place an oyster in each shell.
• 12 spoon about 1 teaspoon of the horseradish sauce into each shell, and sprinkle the panko mixture on top.
• 13 bake in the upper third of the oven for about 10 minutes, until hot throughout and crisp on top.
• 14 serve right away.