Escargot in Puff Pastry (or escargot en pâte feuilletée in French) adds an extra level of taste to classic Escargot. When served in shells, escargots are served in a garlicky parsley butter — with a hint of Vermouth. Eating escargot this way involves a bit of special equipment — a bit showy, but worth it. Serving the escargot in puff pastry has its own level of showy and allows a bit of flexibility with taste. And no special equipment is required. In this recipe, we can add shallots and mushrooms. Both work perfectly producing a nice escargot appetizer.
Puff pastry is not hard to work with — once you have a few 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.
Notes on Technique
Puff Pastry
To create a pastry for this recipe we are going to use an effective but simple technique. The photographs below will demonstrate.
- 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.
- Seal the bottom piece to the top edge with eggwash.
- Place the top back on, and then coat the entire top with eggwash.
Although I used rectangles, almost any shape will work if you follow the technique. And frankly, 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.
Notes on Ingredients
Escargot
Effectively all escargot comes canned now. These are precleaned and stored in herb brine. They will need to be rinsed before use — otherwise, they are ready to go.
If you have any leftover escargot, you should know that they freeze quite well. Freeze them on parchment paper and seal them for a later use — like my Champagne Escargot Soup.
Mushrooms
I like to use oyster mushrooms for this dish. Crimini mushrooms work well also. Frankly, any full-flavored similar 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 snells. Also, cut them roughly the same size as the snail pieces.
Garlic and Shallots
Do not skimp on these two ingredients. They go so well with the cream and escargot.
White Wine
Along with the shallots, cream, and butter in the sauce, I use a white wine reduction in place of the classical Vermouth. A bit softer taste, it accents quite well.
Related posts:
Escargot in Puff Pastry
For a bit of flare
Ingredients
- 2 large sheets of frozen puff pastry
- Eggwash (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)
- ½ cup cream
- ¼ 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 pastry so you may create the sauce while baking.
- On a lightly floured surface lay the two layers of pastry one on top of the other.
- Cut the two stacks into 4 rectangles roughly the same size (2 ½" x 3½"). You will have 4 pairs of basically identical-sized dough.
- Remove the top layer from each pair and cut a smaller rectangle from the middle of the top layer. Preserve the section removed.
- Seal the bottom layer of pastry and the top outline with the eggwash.
- Place the cut-out top back on and then coat the entire top with eggwash.
- 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 and shallots and garlic for 2 minutes. Salt lightly and add fine 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 have a bit of thickening.
- 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 and divide 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.
