You love Snails! Who knew?
I was under the impression that foreigners disliked SNAILS... After the last couple of our French culinary holiday, Week in Uzes, I understood that it is quite the opposite.
EVERYBODY likes a good snail with butter, garlic, and parsley. Our good friend, Cyril Santos, has been producing the best snails in our area for years, and even if he had a rough start due to the wild boars devastating his fields this year, we will still be eating snails often enough. We know the classic garlic and parsley butter (Which should also contain shallots, lemon juice, and sometimes ground almonds), but there are a few other ways to serve our slimy friend.
This one is fancier, but you can be sure it will please your guests. I present to you, my Parsley Flan with snails in Pastis sauce (recipe below)
And for a more rustic recipe from my grandma: Snails in sausage and tomato sauce.
Come cook with us in Uzès by joining us on a culinary holiday in Uzès.
Parsley Flan with snails in Pastis sauce
Serves
6
Prep Time
80 min
Difficulty
Medium
Season
All Seasons
Ingredients:
36 Snails
2 Bunches Parsley
200ml (6oz) Heavy Cream
4 Eggs
Salt & Pepper
2 Shallots
1/4 Liter White Wine
250ml Heavy Cream
100g (3oz) Butter
30ml (1oz) Pastis
Procedure:
- Clean the parsley and remove the stems, boil in water for 3 minutes, remove and shock in ice water. Drain and squeeze well between your hands.
- Add to the milk in a blender and mix until smooth. In a mixing bowl, mix the eggs with 200 ml of heavy cream, add the parsley mixture, salt, and pepper.
- Butter 6 ramequins and filled up with the parsley batter. Use a baking dish filled with 1 inch of water and cook in oven 30 minutes at 180ºc (350ºF)
- Keep aside in a warm place until you need them.
- Chop the shallots in small dice, and add in a saucepan with white wine. Reduce until you have 2 TBS only, add the heavy cream and boil 5 minutes, add the butter and whisk well.
- Add the pastis and keep warm without boiling. Rinse the snails, dry them with paper towel, add the snails to the warm sauce and re-heat a little.
- Serve on a warm plate, with the flan, snails, and the sauce.
