Snail Pies
"To make snail pies. Take snails that have been well cooked & washed as appropriate, & cut them largely with a knife, & add nutmeg, pepper, butter, having been a quarter hour in the oven take four egg yolks beaten with a little Spanish wine, remove the pie from the oven, & cast the sauce in the pie, & let it again in the oven for an "Our Father", & no more."
Ouverture de Cuisine, Lancelot de Casteau, Liege, 1604 (English Translation)
notes
Fairly simple and cheap to make and tastes, and feels, somewhat like a mushroom quiche of sorts and enjoyed by the family.
1 small can of snails (drained: 115g) will make 3 very well filled pies of this size (approx 4 1/2" diameter but 1 1/2" high), if one were to go really frugal, they could stretch that to 4 pies.
notes
These were made in a simple, and short, paste rolled out in circles and built up a bit around the edges to about 1 1/2" high. The idea here was to make a decent serving for one but am sure they could be made much larger with similar results. The pastry was then filled with chopped snails, spices and butter and then cooked for 16 minutes in a hot oven. The custard-type sauce was then made up while they were in the oven so it can be poured into the pastries when they were ready and then say one "our father" (this may vary) before removing.
Do let the pies cool down enough to set before serving.
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