When served in shells, escargots are served in a garlicky parsley butter — with a hint of Vermouth. Usually this involves tongs, forks and serving dishes all designed for the purpose. Showy, but worth it.
Escargot in Puff Pastry (or escargot en pâte feuilletée in French) adds a different dimension to Escargot. Serving the escargot in puff pastry is also showy; however, no special equipment is required. In this recipe, shallots and mushrooms are added, producing a nice escargot appetizer.
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Puff pastry is not hard to work with — once you understand the tricks. You can even make your own as demonstrated in this classic video, but for convenience’s sake, we are going to use frozen commercial puff pastry in this recipe.
Practical Details
Puff Pastry
To create a pastry for this recipe, a simple but effective technique is used. The photographs below demonstrate. But here are the basic steps.
- Start with the dough still frozen and barely workable
- Lay two layers of pastry together, one on top of the other
- Cut rectangles from the pastry stack so they are the same size (roughly 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 inches)
- Remove the top layer and cut a smaller rectangle from the middle of the top layer. Preserve the section removed.
- With the center removed, the top layer is now a frame of the rectangle. Apply egg wash on the bottom layer where the frame will lie. This will serve as a seal.
- Place the top back on, and then coat the entire top with egg wash.
French Cuisine
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Although I used rectangles, almost any shape will work if you follow the technique. Keep in mind, it does not have to be perfect, because when baking, puff pastry can have a mind of its own.
Click on the following photos to see the details. (Note I only worked on 2 servings here, so as to show more details.
Escargot
Practically all escargot comes canned, precleaned and stored in herb brine. The snails will need to be rinsed before use — otherwise, they are ready to cook.
Note: If you have any leftover escargot, you should know that they freeze quite well. Freeze them on parchment paper and seal them for later use — my Champagne Escargot Soup is a good leftover choice.
Mushrooms
I prefer to use oyster mushrooms for this dish. Crimini mushrooms work well also. Frankly, any full-flavored mushrooms work. The recipe calls for 2 ounces (60g) of mushrooms. This is approximate. As suggested in the recipe, select a volume of mushrooms roughly equal to the volume of the snails. Also, cut them roughly the same size as the snail pieces.
Garlic and Shallots
Do not skimp on these two ingredients. They accent the cream and escargot.
White Wine
Along with the shallots, cream, and butter in the sauce, this recipe uses a white wine reduction in place of the classical Vermouth. The resulting sauce has a softer taste, accenting the mushrooms and escargot quite well.
Related posts:
Escargot in Puff Pastry
For a bit of flare
Ingredients
- 2 large sheets of frozen puff pastry
- Egg wash (one egg and 1 teaspoon water, beaten)
- 16 Escargot, rinsed and drained
- 1 clove of garlic, chopped
- 4 tablespoons chopped shallots
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 2 (60g) ounces oyster or similar mushroom, chopped (see note below)
- 1/2 cup cream
- 1/4 cup dry white wine
- Salt
- Finely Ground Pepper
- 2 tablespoons Chopped Parsley
Instructions
Before starting
Prep all cream sauce ingredients before starting pastry; the sauce can then be made while the pastry is baking.
Please review the accompanying article photo gallery demonstrating the pastry process.
Prepare the pastry
- Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
- Prep all ingredients except the pastry.
- On a lightly floured surface lay the two layers of pastry one on top of the other.
- Cut the pastry into 4 rectangles roughly the same size (2 ½" x 3½"). You will have 4 pairs of basically identical-sized rectangles of pastry.
- Remove the top layer from each pair and cut a smaller rectangle from the middle of the top layer. Preserve the section removed.
- With the center removed, the top layer is now a frame of the rectangle. Apply egg wash on the bottom layer where the frame will lie. This will serve as a seal.
- Place the preserved center piece back into place and then coat the entire top with egg wash.
- Place the pastry on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes until golden brown.
Prepare the Escargot Sauce
- While the pastry is baking, melt the butter over medium heat in a saucepan. Cook the mushrooms, shallots, and garlic for 2 minutes. Salt lightly and add finely ground pepper.
- Add the escargot and white wine. Bring to a boil and heat for 2 or 3 minutes until the liquid has reduced to a few tablespoons. When it is ready, the simmering liquid should be a bit thick.
- Add the cream and simmer over low-medium heat for about 4 minutes. Add the parsley and simmer for an additional minute.
- Adjust salt as needed.
- Remove the top portion of the pastries, spoon the mixture over the bases, top with the pastry top, and serve.
Notes
Note: The weight of mushrooms is an approximation. The volume of the mushrooms should be approximately the same as the escargot regardless of the weight.
