Escargots a la Bourguignonne

  Posted on August 9, 2012  by Leslie Blythe  5 comments

Escargot is a dish of cooked land snails, usually served as an appetizer in France and in French restaurants. Special snail tongs (for holding the shell) and snail forks (for extracting the meat) are also normally provided, and they are served on indented metal trays with places for 6 or 12 snails.

I love escargots. You can buy them ready for the oven in most markets in Paris. You must serve it with baguettes to sop up all the buttery garlic. If you don’t have the escargot shells, you can use hollowed out mushrooms.

Escargots a la Bourguignonne

Serves 8

1 shallot, finely chopped
1/4 cup chopped parsley
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup red wine
1 1/2 cups (12 oz or 3 sticks) softened butter
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
48 cleaned snail shells
1 (28 oz) can escargots, drained, rinsed, and patted dry

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

In a bowl combine shallot, parsley, garlic, red wine, butter, salt, and pepper and mix well to thoroughly combine. Place a small amount of the butter inside each prepared snail shell. Add one snail to each shell, then fill each shell with more of the garlic-butter mixture. Place each prepared shell in the well of a snail dish and bake until butter is melted and bubbly and just beginning to brown.